Security & Safety Resource Center

We’ve all been there: You find the perfect, specialty item from a new online shop. You click “Checkout,” and there it is—the dreaded prompt: “Create an Account to Continue.”

It’s tempting to hit “Yes.” They promise faster checkout next time and maybe even a coupon. But before you type in a password you’ll immediately forget, you need to ask yourself one question: Is this transaction worth a permanent digital connection?

For most one-off purchases, the answer is a resounding no. The best security decision you can make is choosing the Guest Checkout option. It’s one of the easiest ways to limit your risk across the internet.

The Real Cost of Too Many Accounts

Every time you create an account with an online vendor, you are handing over a valuable package of information: your email address, your name, your shipping details, and a new password you have to remember (or, worse, reuse).

Why is this risky? Because every single account you create represents a digital liability.

• A Target for Hackers: Small or specialty vendors often don’t have the robust security budget of large corporations. If that niche tea seller or local food app suffers a data breach down the road, all the information tied to your customer profile—including your password hash and personal data—is now exposed.
• A Phishing Entry Point: Even if the breach doesn’t expose your password, it definitely exposes your email and purchase history. This gives phishers everything they need to craft incredibly convincing, personalized email scams that are specifically targeted at you.

When you use Guest Checkout, you only provide the vendor with the bare minimum information needed to process the transaction and ship the item—usually just your email and shipping address.

The Security Power of Being Anonymous

Think of guest checkout as conducting a transaction in cash. You get the product, the store gets the payment, and there’s no long-term record tying your identity to their specific database.

This strategy works perfectly for:

• Ordering Food: You don’t need a permanent account to order delivery from a place you might only use once.
• Specialty Gifts: Buying a single custom item from an Etsy shop or a niche vendor.
• One-Time Software: Purchasing a single license or download from a brand you won’t revisit.

By choosing Guest Checkout, you leave yourself with less to lose if that website is ever compromised. You never create an unnecessary password, and you prevent a new point of failure in your personal digital defense line.

The security mantra for online shopping should be: If you won’t shop there regularly, don’t register there permanently. Protect your private data and make guest checkout your new normal.

Remember the days of working in a corporate office? You were hooked up to a secure network managed by professionals, complete with firewalls and ironclad protocols. Now, for many of us, the “secure network” is just the Wi-Fi router sitting next to the TV.

This shift means you are now the primary security manager for your devices. And there’s one setting on your Windows computer that is often left wide open, silently inviting unauthorized eyes: File Sharing.

The Hidden Risk of Your Home Network

When file sharing is enabled on your Windows machine, it’s designed to make life easy—to let you quickly swap photos with a family member or print a document to a shared printer. But in a home environment, “easy” often equals “exposed.”

Your home network might be shared with multiple devices: your spouse’s laptop, your kids’ tablets, smart TVs, and maybe even a few smart speakers. While you trust your family, you can’t always trust the security of every device connected to your network. If even one device on your home Wi-Fi gets compromised by malware, that malware could potentially use your open file-sharing permissions to browse and copy files from your computer.

This is especially true if you handle sensitive information for work, like client data, financial reports, or proprietary business documents. You may have transitioned your laptop from a highly secure office network to a much less secure home setup. Turning off file sharing is a crucial step in recreating that professional barrier around your sensitive data.

Take Control: How to Flip the Switch

The good news is that locking down file sharing is one of the quickest and most impactful security steps you can take. You don’t need to be a tech guru; you just need to know where to click.

Here is the quick process for modern Windows systems:

1. Open Settings: Click the Start button (the Windows icon) and select the Settings gear icon.
2. Go to Network Settings: Select “Network and Internet.”
3. Find Sharing Options: Look for and select “Sharing Options” or a similar link that takes you to advanced network settings.
4. Inhibit Sharing: In the various sharing profile sections (usually labeled “Private” or “Public”), find the option for “File and Printer Sharing” and make sure it is turned off. You may need to disable it for both private and public networks for complete protection.

By turning off file sharing, you actively inhibit unauthorized individuals or malicious software on your home network from being able to peek into or steal files from your computer. It’s a small change with a massive impact on your privacy and security. Take two minutes today to check this setting and keep your sensitive files locked down!

Every time you pull out your physical credit card and type the numbers into a website, you are engaging in a risky activity. Think about it: you are handing over the keys to your financial life—your 16-digit card number, expiration date, and that critical three-digit code—to yet another online retailer.

But what if you never had to share your real credit card number again? That’s the power of the digital wallet, and it’s why services like Apple Pay and Google Pay are the smart, secure way to pay, both online and in brick-and-mortar stores.

The Problem with Typing

When you manually type your credit card details, you expose that data to two major threats:

1. Data Breaches: If the website you’re buying from gets hacked, your credit card number, along with millions of others, can be exposed and stolen by criminals. You have zero control over how well that company protects your data.
2. Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: If you are shopping on an unsecured or public Wi-Fi network, a savvy hacker can potentially intercept the information you type in, stealing your card number as it travels from your computer to the retailer.

It’s a high-risk transaction that happens billions of times a day.

The Magic of Tokenization

Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay solve this problem using a clever security technique called tokenization. Here’s how it works:

When you add your credit card to your digital wallet, the service doesn’t actually store your real card number on your phone or in their system. Instead, they create a unique, scrambled number called a token (also sometimes called a “virtual card number” or “device account number”).

When you make a purchase, the digital wallet sends this token to the retailer, not your real credit card number.

• To the Retailer: The token looks just like a normal card number, so the transaction processes.
• To the Criminal: If a hacker intercepts the transaction or breaches the retailer’s system, all they get is the token. This token is useless to them because it’s linked only to your specific device for that specific transaction. It cannot be used to make another purchase.

More Than Just Online Shopping

The security benefits of digital wallets extend to the real world, too. When you tap your phone or smartwatch at a register, the same tokenization process occurs. You’re not swiping a physical card that can be skimmed; you are wirelessly transmitting a secure, single-use token.

Many online shops, apps, and even major brick-and-mortar retailers now accept these forms of payment. By setting up and consistently using your digital wallet, you are actively choosing the most secure payment method available, essentially creating an armored shield around your financial data.

Make the switch today. Stop sharing your credit card number and start using the token. It’s the easiest security upgrade you’ll make all year!

That little buzz in your pocket often brings a moment of excitement: Your package is on its way!

We are constantly checking our phones, waiting for tracking updates, and anticipating that front-door delivery. Scammers know this anticipation is high, and they are masters at exploiting it. That’s why you need to be on high alert for a massive spike in delivery scam smishing.

What in the World is “Smishing”?

“Smishing” is just a catchy term for SMS phishing. Phishing is the use of emails or messages designed to trick you. Since most of us have learned to spot a poorly-written email scam, criminals have shifted their game to text messages, where we tend to be less cautious.

A typical delivery smishing scam works like this:

1. The Message Arrives: You get a text message—seemingly from FedEx, USPS, or Amazon—stating there’s a problem with your package. It might say a delivery fee is due, your address is wrong, or the package is “pending.”
2. The Pressure is On: The message includes a link and usually carries a sense of urgency. “Click here within 24 hours or your package will be returned!”
3. The Trap: If you click that link, you aren’t taken to a real delivery service website. You are taken to a fake, look-alike site designed to steal your credit card information, your login credentials, or, worst of all, install malware onto your phone.

Your Best Defense: Verify, Don’t Click

The key to beating these scams is to adopt a simple, three-second rule: Never click on a link in an unsolicited text message.

Instead of clicking that link, follow these steps to verify any suspicious message:

1. Take Note of the Details: Look at the supposed tracking number or the company name.
2. Close the Text Message: Don’t interact with it at all.
3. Go Direct: Verify the information through the company’s official website or app. Do not use the link the scammer provided.
4. If it’s Amazon: Open the official Amazon app (or type amazon.com into your browser) and check your “Your Orders” page. If there is a legitimate issue, it will be clearly posted there.
5. If it’s FedEx or UPS: Open their official app or website. Copy the tracking number from the suspicious text and paste it directly into the official tracking tool. If the tracking number is fake, the tool won’t find anything.

Delivery scams succeed because they catch you when you’re distracted and expecting a delivery. By remaining skeptical, closing the message, and verifying information through official channels, you stop the scammer dead in their tracks. Protect your phone, and make sure your package is the only thing that arrives!

When you type a website address, or URL, into your browser, you probably don’t think much about the last few letters, right? That little suffix—the .com, .org, or .net—is called a Top-Level Domain (TLD). For years, these TLDs were limited and very familiar. But the internet is a big place now, and new TLDs have exploded onto the scene, giving us options like .shop, .tech, and even .ninja.

While many of these new extensions are perfectly legitimate, some have become digital red flags. You need to start paying attention to them, because they can be a quick indicator that you’re about to click into a dangerous neighborhood.

Not All TLDs Are Created Equal

The problem is that the relaxed rules for creating and registering these newer TLDs have been widely exploited by cybercriminals. They love using fresh TLDs because it allows them to set up huge numbers of disposable, malicious websites very cheaply and quickly.

For example, reputable sites usually stick to the classic TLDs. A well-known company will be [Company].com, not [Company].xyz or [Company].download. When you see one of the unusual TLDs, you should immediately raise your internal security alarm.

The Most Suspicious Suffixes

While you should exercise caution with any unfamiliar TLD, security experts have identified a few that are almost exclusively associated with suspicious or outright malicious activity, particularly spam distribution and malware downloads.

Be especially wary if you see these TLDs in your search results, in an email link, or in an unexpected pop-up:

• .country
• .stream
• .download

Why these three in particular? They are often used to host drive-by download sites, where just visiting the page can start downloading malware, or they host spam and phishing content designed to trick you out of your personal information. If you encounter a link ending in one of these, do not click it.

How to Protect Yourself Today

Protecting yourself requires two simple, active steps:

1. Look Before You Leap: Before clicking any link—whether it’s in an email, a social media post, or a message—take a second to look at the full web address. If the TLD looks strange or is on the list above, hover your cursor over the link to see the URL pop up, and think twice before proceeding.
2. Trust Your Gut: If a website you land on has a generic or suspicious TLD and immediately demands personal information or starts a file download, close the tab immediately. Your instinct is your best defense.

By simply taking notice of the few letters at the end of a web address, you can significantly reduce your risk of stumbling into a cybersecurity trap. Keep an eye on those TLDs and keep your devices safe!

You’ve finished an important document, and now it’s time to share it with your team. What’s your first move? If you’re like many people, you might download the file and email it as an attachment, or maybe you grab the link and send it off.

While those methods might seem convenient, they introduce several major security risks and productivity headaches. Today, we’re going to show you why sharing directly through Google Docs is the smartest, safest, and most professional way to collaborate.

The Big Security Problem: Phishing

The most compelling reason to ditch email attachments is security. Email attachments are a classic technique commonly exploited by phishers.

Cybercriminals frequently send emails that look legitimate, complete with your company’s logo, asking you to “Review the attached file.” When you click on the attachment, you aren’t opening a PDF; you’re often downloading malicious software (like a virus or ransomware) onto your computer. These attacks work because people are conditioned to trust files that show up in their inbox.

By refusing to send or open email attachments for collaboration, you immediately close off one of the easiest ways for criminals to sneak malware onto your system.

The Productivity Problem: Version Control

If you use email attachments, you instantly create a messy problem called version control. When you send a file:

1. You have Version 1.
2. Your collaborator downloads it and creates Version 2.
3. They email Version 2 back to you, and another collaborator sends you Version 3.

Suddenly, you have three different files in your inbox and no idea which one is the final, accurate document.

Sharing directly in Google Docs solves this. The document lives in one place (the cloud), and every edit is tracked in real-time. You always know you are working on the latest version.

How to Share the Right Way

Sharing directly from a Google Doc is fast, easy, and gives you total control over who sees your work. Here’s the secure method:

1. Open the Doc: Make sure the document you want to share is open in your browser.
2. Click the Share Button: Look for the bright blue “Share” button in the top right corner.
3. Add Collaborators: Enter the email addresses of the people you want to work with.
4. Adjust Permissions: This is the critical step! Don’t just hit send. Use the dropdown menu next to each name to set their permission level:
   1. Editor: They can make changes to the file.
   1. Commenter: They can only add comments (great for feedback).
   1. Viewer: They can only read the file (great for final review).
5. Select “Done”: Your collaborators immediately get an email notification with a direct, secure link to the single, live version of the document.

By sharing access instead of sending attachments, you preserve your editing permissions, maintain perfect version control, and, most importantly, protect yourself and your company from phishing attacks. Make this small change today for big security gains!

When you settle down for a weekend binge, you expect to see your profile—not random activity from a device you don’t recognize. While it might just be a friend sharing a password (bad habit, by the way!), an unrecognized device on your streaming account could be a red flag pointing to a much larger cybersecurity problem.

It’s time to take a quick, proactive step to protect your digital life, starting with your favorite streaming service.

The Hidden Threat of Shared Logins

Subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and others are prime targets for hackers. Why? Because most people reuse the same email and password combination for everything, including their bank and work accounts. If a hacker cracks your weak password or steals your credentials from a data breach at a different site, the first thing they do is test that combination on popular services like Netflix.

If they get in, they gain two things: free entertainment (annoying!) and confirmation that your password works—making your other, more important accounts vulnerable (terrifying!).

Action Steps: How to Check Your Netflix Activity

Stopping unauthorized access is simple. Netflix makes it easy to see exactly where your account has been active. You should get into the habit of checking this page at least once a quarter.

Here is the step-by-step process:

1. Open Your Account Page: Log into Netflix on a web browser (not the app) and navigate to your Account settings.
2. Find the Settings Section: Scroll down until you see the Settings or Security & Privacy area.
3. Click “Recent device streaming activity”: This link is the key. It opens a detailed list showing the location (city/country), IP address, and type of device (e.g., iPhone, Smart TV, Chrome Browser) that recently accessed your account.
4. Review and Look for the “Odd One Out”: Carefully scan the list. Do you see a login from a city you’ve never visited? A device model you don’t own? Anything that seems out of place is a potential intruder.

Someone’s There. Now What?

If you spot something suspicious, don’t panic. You have two crucial immediate actions to take:

1. Log Out All Devices: In your Account settings, look for the option to “Sign out of all devices.” This immediately boots everyone—including yourself and any legitimate users—off the account. This is the fastest way to stop the unauthorized access.
2. Change Your Password Immediately: This is non-negotiable. Choose a strong, unique password that you have never used anywhere else. Make it long, use a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. Using a password manager helps immensely here.

By checking your streaming device activity, you’re doing more than just protecting your watch history; you’re using it as an early warning system to protect your entire digital life. Make it a routine and keep your accounts secure!

You’ve heard the term “computer virus” a thousand times. Maybe you got a pop-up warning, or perhaps a friend panicked when their laptop slowed to a crawl. But what exactly is a computer virus, and how does this digital infection manage to wreck so much havoc?

Let’s break down this pesky digital pest.

The Digital Copycat: How Viruses Work

A computer virus is essentially a piece of malicious code that acts much like its biological namesake: it can’t live on its own. It needs a host—like a file, a program, or even the system area of your hard drive or network router—to exist.

Once it infects a file, the virus immediately starts its mission: spreading by making copies of itself. When you open the infected file, the virus springs into action, injecting its code into other files on your computer. When you share that file with a friend or upload it to a shared network, the virus jumps to new hosts, and the cycle continues.

Think of it like digital graffiti: once the virus gets the marker, it quickly scrawls its code onto every clean surface it can find.

The Spectrum of Trouble: What Viruses Do

Not all viruses are created equal, and their intent—or payload—can vary wildly. Some are relatively harmless annoyances, designed simply to spread and maybe display a quirky message on your screen. They might slow your system down by hogging resources, but they won’t necessarily damage your files.

However, many viruses are far more destructive. They can:

1. Damage or Corrupt Data: They might scramble, alter, or delete individual data files you rely on every day.
2. Destroy Entire Systems: The worst kind of virus can completely wipe your hard drive, leading to total data loss and system failure.
3. Create Backdoors: Some advanced viruses open a secret connection for hackers, letting them take control of your computer remotely or steal sensitive information.

The key takeaway is this: regardless of their intent, viruses compromise the integrity of your computer system.

Your Best Defense: Always Be Protected

The good news is that protecting yourself from these digital bugs is straightforward. You don’t need a PhD in cybersecurity—you just need the right tools and good habits.

The single most effective shield you have is up-to-date antivirus software. This software acts as a digital immune system, constantly monitoring your files and scanning incoming data for known virus signatures. If a virus tries to sneak in, the antivirus catches it and isolates it before it can spread and cause damage.

A few simple habits also make a huge difference:

• Be Skeptical: Never click on links or download attachments from email senders you don’t recognize. Cybercriminals frequently use email (phishing) to trick you into inviting a virus onto your machine.
• Keep Everything Updated: Software updates often include security patches that close the very vulnerabilities viruses try to exploit. Update your operating system, web browser, and applications regularly.
• Run Regular Scans: Even with real-time protection, running a full system scan monthly ensures nothing has slipped through the cracks.

By understanding what a computer virus is and actively deploying your defenses, you take control of your digital security. Protect your devices today and keep your data safe!