Online Safety

How to Shop Smart and Avoid Scams This Prime Day and Father’s Day Introduction Retail analysts are predicting record spending this Father’s Day and Amazon Prime Day. That’s good news for shoppers looking for deals, but it also draws out scammers. The more money flowing online, the more fake stores, phishing emails, and fraudulent ads appear. If you’re planning to buy gifts during these sales, it helps to know what to watch for and how to protect yourself. Here are practical steps to keep your purchases safe. ...

How to Update Your Privacy Tools for the AI Era (and Why It Matters Now) If you’ve been using the same password manager, VPN, or antivirus for years, it’s time to check whether they still hold up. AI is reshaping cybercrime, and the tools that protected you a few years ago may no longer be enough. ...

How to Update Your Privacy Tools for the AI Era: A Step-by-Step Guide Introduction If you’ve been using the same privacy settings for your VPN, password manager, or browser extensions for more than a year, there’s a good chance they’re no longer as effective as they once were. The rapid adoption of generative AI by cybercriminals has changed the game. Attacks are faster, more personalised, and harder to spot. The tools that worked in 2023 may not cut it in 2026. ...

Small Tweaks, Big Difference: Updating Your Privacy Tools for the AI Threat Landscape The way cybercriminals use AI has changed in the past year. Attacks that once required manual effort—like crafting a convincing phishing email or guessing a password—can now be automated at scale, with deepfake voice and video making them harder to spot. A June 2026 World Economic Forum report notes that AI is accelerating cybercrime by exposing flaws in existing defenses, and deepfake scams alone have increased 300% over the same period. ...

How to Update Your Privacy Tools for the AI Era: A Practical Guide Introduction If you’re still using the same privacy settings and tools you set up a few years ago, you’re probably not as protected as you think. Cybercriminals now routinely use artificial intelligence to automate scams, crack passwords faster, and personalise phishing messages in ways that fool even cautious users. The good news is that updating a handful of your existing privacy tools—password managers, VPNs, browser extensions, and app permissions—can significantly reduce your risk. This article walks through the most impactful changes you can make today. ...

Your Privacy Tools Aren’t Ready for AI-Powered Threats—Here’s How to Fix Them If you still rely on the same password manager, VPN, or browser privacy settings you set up two or three years ago, your defenses against today’s cyber threats are probably weaker than you think. The reason isn’t that those tools have stopped working—it’s that the attackers have upgraded their game using generative AI. ...

Your Privacy Tools Need an Upgrade: How to Stay Safe in the Age of AI If you’re still relying on the same privacy settings and security tools you set up a few years ago, you may be more exposed than you realize. Cybercriminals are now using AI to automate attacks, craft convincing phishing messages, and scrape personal data at scale. The World Economic Forum recently published guidance on updating data privacy tools to address these new threats, and the message is clear: traditional defenses are no longer enough. ...

How to Tighten Privacy on AI Tools: A Practical Guide Intro If you use ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, or any large language model, you’ve probably noticed the convenience of having a smart assistant that remembers context, suggests replies, or drafts documents. What’s less obvious is how much of your input gets stored, shared, or used to train future models. ...

Shop Smart This Father’s Day and Prime Day: How to Spot Scams Before You Buy Record spending is expected this Father’s Day and Amazon Prime Day, with consumers looking for gifts and deals. But scammers are also gearing up for the surge. Phishing emails, fake shopping sites, and too-good-to-be-true offers on social media become more common during these high-traffic events. A recent WRAL report highlighted that fraud attempts tend to spike when shoppers are rushing to buy (source: WRAL, June 19, 2026). Here’s a practical guide to spotting and avoiding the most common scams, so you can shop safely. ...

Update Your Privacy Tools to Defend Against AI-Driven Cyber Threats The rise of artificial intelligence is changing how cybercriminals operate. AI can now generate convincing phishing emails, realistic deepfake audio and video, and automate the discovery of software or account weaknesses. For everyday consumers, the tools and habits that kept you safe a few years ago may no longer be enough. This article explains what is happening and offers practical steps to update your privacy tools accordingly. ...