January 28th is International Data Privacy Day. If you’re wondering why data privacy needs its own awareness day, well hello, good morning and welcome to the 21 Century. Today, technological advances come at breakneck speed. With every new device and development, at some point, the user is asked to fork over a portion of his or her identifying information. At the beginning of our always-connected era, people dutifully filled out their data as they had been prompted to. But eventually, people began to ask “Why?” “Why does my productivity app need to know my birthdate?” and “Why should I allow my guided yoga app to access my contacts?”

**Bleeding data all over the place**

There were no easy or comfortable answers, it turned out. What people began to understand is that the trade-off for our super-connected experience is our privacy. Today, when we take pictures on our smartphones, they contain location data. Many common apps contain keylogging capabilities. We give our apps permission to listen in on our conversations. Our browsers track our every move. And all of this is just a small snippet of what we are putting up for grabs on a daily basis.

It’s no big surprise then that the cameras that surround us are sapping our privacy as well. Cameras, which can peer into every aspect of our lives, are now built into lots of tech and pop up just about everywhere — our phones, Alexas, baby monitors, desktops, laptops, home security systems, gaming systems, smart TVs and a whole host of other IoT devices. And while the capability to take photos and videos is part and parcel of our digital lives, these cameras open us up to a whole lot of potential snooping.

**A sneak-peek into what attackers can see**

Here are some of what people can do with your camera once they have access to it: record and look in on you at any time, take pictures, conduct facial recognition scans and Livestream your camera feed to the internet. Hackers have been known to [infiltrate baby monitors](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/02/21/50000-mi-cam-baby-cams-vulnerable-to-simple-spy-attacks/) to take pictures of sleeping infants and there have been incidents wherein attackers uploaded pictures of people in compromising situations to the internet. In fact, The Dark Web has entire marketplaces dedicated to buying and selling ill-gotten webcam streams.

![](https://cms.reasonlabs.com/cdn/bigstock-Hacking-And-Phishing-Concept-263466271-e1583052588582.jpg)

Moreover, there have been reports of employers spying on their employees and schools spying on their students via laptop webcams. Some of the apps we use on a daily basis can access your camera without you knowing it. While some apps need this access to do their job (it’s kind of hard to use Instagram without allowing it to access your camera), a whole lot of them don’t really need it. And while this doesn’t necessarily mean that their intentions are less than innocent, you should think twice before granting that level of permission.  

**Preserving privacy with Reason Webcam Protection**

In this post-Snowden world, we’ve got to accept the fact that if we’re not actively doing something to preserve what’s left of our privacy, we are inherently compromising it. That’s why we have developed a comprehensive webcam privacy solution. Far more than just a piece of duct tape or a little plastic slide-y window, Reason’s webcam protection feature not only prevents anyone from recording you, it alerts you to any malicious activity taking place on your webcam. It’s easy to deploy and is effective against the full scope of webcam infiltration attacks.

Getting set up is simple. Just follow these steps:

1.  Go to [reasonsecurity.com](https://www.reasonsecurity.com)
2.  Click on “Camera Protection”.
3.  Upgrade to Reason Premium. If you already have a Reason Premium license, click the “I already have a license” link.
4.  Insert the activation code in the “License Settings” screen, by clicking the settings icon on the top right and navigation to the license section. The lock icon will disappear from the Camera Protection feature icon.
5.  Now you can choose to:

*   Monitor all unknown apps, while allowing access to trusted apps only.

*   Block all webcam access and be informed each time access is requested.

*   Monitor all access attempts – any app, trusted to not, will need permission to access your camera.

*   Allow access to all requests – but be informed each time your camera is in use.

Whichever level of protection you choose, you can be sure that you’ll have what you need to ensure attackers keep out of your webcams.

**Taking back what’s yours**

Today, there are just so many threats to privacy but that doesn’t mean that you’re powerless to stop them. International Data Privacy Day should remind us all that we have the power to take back what’s rightfully ours. With Reason’s webcam protection, you can ensure that you’re never targeted via your camera — and that’s something to smile and say “cheese” about.

Today, there are just so many threats to privacy but that doesn’t mean that you’re powerless to stop them. International Data Privacy Day should remind us all that we have the power to take back what’s rightfully ours. With Reason’s webcam protection, you can ensure that you’re never targeted via your camera — and that’s something to smile and say “cheese” about.

January 28th is International Data Privacy Day. If you’re wondering why data privacy needs its…

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It&#8217;s Data Privacy Day: What does your camera know about you?

You may not have known, but September 15th is _**National Online Learning Day**_. Nowadays, it seems like everything has its own “day”. There is even a day dedicated to Pancakes (September 26th, get your maple syrup ready) and apparently, May 15 is “No Dirty Dishes Day”. But before you laugh off National Online Learning Day as insignificant, think about the following statistics: currently, there are over 6 million people in the US taking courses online, companies that provide employees with online training see revenue increases of 26%, and the size of the online learning marketplace is 165 billion dollars. Clearly, online learning is a force to be reckoned with.  
Online learning has helped millions of people get higher-paying jobs, learn new skills and increase their knowledge. The truth is that the possibilities for educating yourself are almost limitless and the opportunities we have today are unprecedented. Right now, your ten-year-old could be learning astronomy on Khan Academy while you explore R Programming at Edx and your mom learns to play the saxophone on Udemy. Some of these programs offer standalone courses and others offer full-out degrees and certifications.  
And then, a handful of them are outright scams.

**Pie in the sky**   
Sure, you might be intrigued by promises of that easy BA or skills that will send your paycheck into the stratosphere, but when something seems too good to be true, it’s probably not true.  
Before the internet, non-classroom based learning was called distance learning. And even then, while programs were legitimate, some were flat-out scams. Back in the 1970s, there was [Famous Writers School](http://mentalfloss.com/article/64671/famous-writer-who-brought-down-famous-writers-school), led by some of the most famous writers of that time, including Rod Serling, creator of the Twilight Zone and Gordon Carroll, editor of Reader’s Digest. Ads for the school promised budding authors (and anyone with a pulse) fame and fortune, with just an enrollment fee of $900 (approx $6000 today). At its height, the school raked in millions of dollars annually until it was exposed as a complete fraud.  
The more things change, the more they stay the same.    
Today, there are online “universities”, or diploma mills, promising degrees in less than a month. They come with highly misleading names, like Harvard College and Columbia State University and claim to offer diplomas based on life experience and unaccredited tests and coursework. There are hundreds of these fraudulent degree programs, charging between $500-2500 per fake degree. And they continue to lure in students/victims who don’t know the warning signs to watch out for. So if you’re interested in enhancing your skills but aren’t interested in plunking down your hard-earned cash on a worthless piece of paper, here is what to look out for:

*   **Less than clear-cut accreditation status:** If the school is located in the US, the first thing to do is to check out it’s recognized by the US Education Department. If not, that’s a huge red flag.
*   **Promises of degrees/diplomas/certificates in record-setting time:** Any program that claims to be able to furnish a degree in a matter of days/weeks is bogus.
*   **Degrees based mainly on “life experience”:** Sorry, nobody is going to award you with a Masters in Psychology, no matter how many hours you’ve spent trying to reason with your kids.
*   **Oddly familiar names:** Case in point, the aforementioned Columbia State University.
*   **Shady websites:** If you cannot find the information you need on a program’s website, such as a list of faculty members, their address or student resources, run in the opposite direction.
*   **Low/no admission criteria:** Like in the Famous Writers School scandal, if the school admits just about everyone, you can be fairly certain that things are not what they seem.

But don’t fret; if you have your heart set on learning something new today, there are some completely amazing online learning programs offering a range of services from stand-alone courses to full degrees. Here are some of the best programs out there:

*   **[Udemy](https://www.udemy.com)** – One of the largest libraries of online courses, you can find classes on virtually any topic you can think of.
*   **[Khan Academy](https://www.khanacademy.org)** – This non-profit educational organization offers classes in the form of YouTube videos on a range of subjects and provides teachers with supplemental resources.
*   **[Codecademy](https://www.codecademy.com)** – Learn how to code for free.
*   **[Skillcrush](https://skillcrush.com)** – Learn everything you need to start a career in tech — from design to UX to web development.
*   **[Cybrary](https://www.cybrary.it)** – We especially like this resource, where for free, you can learn everything there is to learn about cybersecurity — from the basics to expert level.

We are lucky to be living in an age where getting an education is not a privilege only granted to a select few, as it was for millennia. But know that it comes with some risks. By using your head, you can stay safe.

![](https://cms.reasonlabs.com/cdn/shutterstock_1523639708-scaled.jpg)

You may not have known, but September 15th is National Online Learning Day. Nowadays, it…

shutterstock_1523639708-scaled.jpg

Watch out for online learning scams!

You probably already realize that keeping your social security number secure is really important. But have you ever thought about why it’s so important? ;

**Why do we need social security numbers anyway?**  
To get a true understanding of why it’s so important to make sure that your “social” never falls into the wrong hands, let’s start from the beginning. A social security number is a nine-digit number issued by the government to all US citizens, with some rare exceptions granted for certain religious groups who opt out of the identification system, such as the Amish. These numbers were first issued in the 1930s to track accounts in the newly formed New Deal Social Security program and were never supposed to be used as a primary way of identifying oneself.  
But since almost every American citizen holds a social security number, it has since become the _de facto_ way of identifying people. It’s how the IRS keeps track of individuals and you need one to obtain a passport, open any kind of financial service, get a driver’s license or apply for insurance. And for the most part, the requesting parties use your social as an easy way to ID their customers, not because they actually need it.  
What this means is that all these businesses and organizations have people’s most sensitive data stored on their servers even though in the vast majority of cases it’s totally unnecessary. If (and more like when) these places get hacked, SSNs are the very first thing hackers go after. Once a hacker has your social, he or she can commit all kinds of identity fraud or sell it to another hacker on the dark web.  
The worst part? Sorting out identity theft is terribly complex and in some cases, the victim may spend the rest of his or her life dealing with the consequences. Below are just some of the things hackers can do once they have your social.

**What an attacker can do with a stolen SSN**

1.  **Open credit cards in your name** – To open almost any credit card account, all you need is an SSN, name, and address. After stealing your SSN, getting your name and address is a relative cinch. Together, these three pieces of information in the wrong hands are incredibly damaging.
2.  **Get your tax return** – You may be eagerly awaiting your tax return money, but as long as an attacker has your SSN name and birthdate, he or she can file a tax return in your name. Goodbye money, and more importantly, goodbye security and privacy.
3.  **Open bank accounts/add names to your bank accounts –** Now that they have your SSN, attackers can easily open bank accounts in your name. They can also get into your existing accounts and add themselves on so they can use the funds.
4.  **Take out loans in your name –** Armed with your SSN and name, attackers can take out loans and never pay them back. This causes huge damage to your credit rating, ability to get insurance and can even prevent you from getting a job in the future.
5.  **Use your health coverage-** Imagine getting a statement for a medical procedure you know you’ve never had — and you have to pay the bill. With just your SSN, a hacker can pose as you, receive medical treatment and stick you with the bill. As terrible as this is, messing with your medical can get much worse; if an attacker is treated in your name, his or her current medical issues will be added to your records, which could lead doctors to prescribe incorrect or unnecessary medications or procedures.
6.  **Claim to be you if charged with a crime –** Did you really think a hacker would fess up if caught by the police? Nah, they’ll just pretend to be you instead. By giving your name over to the authorities, you have become a part of their web of crime and lies, which may keep you from getting lines of credit and jobs… and worse of all may land you in prison.
7.  **Open utilities in your name –** All it takes is an SSN and name to open accounts at certain utilities such as gas, electric and phone companies. Attackers run up bills under your name and then you get stuck with the bill.

**6 Tips to Keep your Social Security Number out of the wrong hands**  
These are all really terrible prospects — but there are some things you can do to prevent your SSN from fall into the wrong hands:

1.  **Take your SSN card out of your wallet** – Some people have the habit of carrying their social security card around, but this is a huge mistake. Take it out asap and put it someplace very secure, like a safe deposit box.
2.  **Learn it by heart** – Memorizing your social security number means you’ll never need to write it down unnecessarily.  
3.  **Don’t give your number out –** As we mentioned, some companies ask for your SSN but that doesn’t mean you need to give it to them. Unless it’s your employer, bank, the IRS or some other government-backed agency who’s asking, you can and should decline to provide that information.
4.  **Never put it in email or text** – Even if you do need to give over your social to one of the parties listed above, make sure to NEVER put it in email or text message. If your phone/email or the receiving party’s phone or email gets hacked, your social is toast.
5.  **Shred documents** – Another way attackers get your SSN is by fishing through your trash. There is a decent chance that your SSN or other identifying information may be listed somewhere on papers you’re throwing out. Don’t risk it and shred everything with an office-grade shredder.
6.  **Monitor your credit card statements –** Keep super close tabs on your bank and credit card statements. This will allow you to see if anyone has opened anything in your name before there is widespread damage.

When it comes to protecting your social security number, the best move is to never give it out without thoroughly understanding to whom, and why, you’re giving it out. Obviously, a person could do everything right and they could still wind up having their SSN exposed in a large scale corporate breach. But the more you think before giving it out, the better off you’ll be. Keeping your social security number secure is a long term prospect, but one that’s well worth the effort.  
![](https://cms.reasonlabs.com/cdn/shutterstock_1514630735-scaled.jpg)

You probably already realize that keeping your social security number secure is really important. But…

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7 things hackers can do with your stolen social security number (and 6 ways to protect it!)

_“Um, honey, I think we have a problem. The computer is telling me that all the files on it have been encrypted. This is your sort of thing, right?”_  
Inhaling, I let my dear hubby’s words sink in. _Ransomware? My sort of thing?_

In 2016, ransomware was everybody’s sort of thing. Ransomware is [nothing new](http://blog.reasoncoresecurity.com/2016/05/12/ransomware-ransomware-everywhere/). In fact, in internet years it’s older than dirt. It’s been around since the late 1980s when it was distributed via floppy disks. Back then, the unlock fee of $189 had to be mailed into the P.O. box of the anonymous creator who turned out to be a doctor with a few loose screws. Since then, ransomware has up its game significantly and in early 2016, the FBI predicted that the costs of the epidemic would reach the $1 billion mark. The total year-end numbers are still being tallied up, but the odds are that the FBI’s estimates were on target.  
Ransomware attacks affected personal computers, big businesses, law enforcement agencies, schools and perhaps most devastatingly, hospitals, where IT was forced to chose between forking over money and losing potentially life-altering patient medical information many times over in 2016. And the stats for 2017 don’t seem like they are going to be much brighter.

Here is a look at the most damaging or notable variants we crossed paths within 2016:

**Locky**: A recent addition to the ransomware crime family, Locky sounds less than harmful but in reality, this variant turned out to be incredibly destructive in terms of speed and agility. Starting in late 2015, Locky spread through infected Excel and Word files email attachments and hit more than 400,000 victims in its first week of deployment alone. Since then it has been detected in 114 countries and has been the method of attack against high profile targets including Hollywood and Methodist hospitals in Los Angeles and Kentucky, respectively.  
Locky is profitable too – the decrypt fee is one bitcoin or about $419. Affecting about 90,000 people a day approximately, 2600 pay up. So you do the math – by the end of the year, Locky’s creators have raked in a nice bundle of cash from their exploit.

**Petya and Mischa**: Talk about double trouble, this ransomware pair surfaced in March of this year and spread via infected email attachments, displaying some truly unique qualities — First off, whereas most ransomware variants encrypt files, Petya takes the lead and goes after admin privileges, encrypting the master file table, and leaves the computer unable to boot. This can only happen if it gets admin privileges, which it does by scamming users into allowing access from the User Account Control (UAC) feature.  
But wait, there’s more! If Petya fails to obtain admin privileges, Mischa steps in to encrypt files directly just like any other ransomware.  
The decrypt fee for Petya was about 1.96 BTC (about $898) at the height of its infection-spreading spree and Mischa’s was slightly higher at 2.009 BCT, or $909.  
**Cerber**: Spread via, you guessed it, infected spam email attachments that appear to come from companies like DHL or FedEx, Cerber starts to encrypt files with the incredibly powerful RSA 2058 encryption key when users click a link in the fraudulent emails.

A few elements make this variant noteworthy; Cerber follows the Ransomware As A Service, or RaaS, business model, meaning that any unskilled ransomware perpetrator-wannabes can buy the entire kit on the dark web and set up their own Cerber campaign in a few short and easy steps. They initiate the mayhem and collect the decrypt fee (1 BTC, an apparent steal) and the alpha creator gets a kickback of their profits. Cerber also plays a recording of the decrypt instructions for victims, perhaps to give it a more “personal” touch. The part that makes it truly noteworthy though, is that since its inception early this year, Cerber hasn’t stopped morphing and changing its methods, making it all that much more difficult to stop in its tracks.

**ZCrypt**: It’s got a funky new-age name but Zcrypt is notable because of its throwback functionalities. Arriving via malicious attachments or as a fake Adobe Flash update, Zcrypt spreads via self-replicating virus infections, making it reminiscent of the computer viruses of yore.  
Charging a decrypt fee of 1 BTC, there is a lot wrong with ZCrypt’s execution but what it lacks in precision it makes up for in creativity and perseverance – It evades detection specifically because it uses older methods that a lot of anti-virus products don’t bother trying to detect and then it overrides files not once, but twice, to make sure there is no way to recover them without paying up. And lastly, it monitors any new files that might be created after the initial encryption takes place (if you just wanted to count those already-encrypted files as goners and move on from there without paying up) and encrypts those too. It hasn’t been too widely distributed as of yet but its tenacity makes it one to watch out for.

**Popcorn Time**: Sounds cute, but it’s not. Not to be confused with the banned/unbanned/banned again video streaming platform bearing the same name, Popcorn Time is your typical run-of-the-mill ransomware, encrypting files and forcing victims to pay up. But there’s a twist — if you don’t want to pay and don’t have any particular scruples about you, just send it off to other people — If two of them pay up, you’re off the hook!  
Popcorn Time just debuted in the last month or so and it’s still got a whole lot of bugs to work out, but as we have seen, hackers draw inspiration from past variants so look for Popcorn Time to become more perfected over time — and watch out for other variants looking to pull a page from its nasty book.

Ransomware keeps rearing its ugly head because people keep paying up, making the creators and distributors very, very rich. The very best advice is to back up with a reliable backup program before trouble strikes and wipe the encrypted files off your computer (unless you’ve been infected with Zcrypt, then good luck, buddy).  
As for my ransomwared-with-Locky computer? It was a really outdated _gosh-why-do-we-even-have-this-old-thing_ standby that I hadn’t thought to [install RCS](https://www.reasoncoresecurity.com) on. My fault right there. We just decided to chuck it, because there was no way I was going to pay up and thankfully, there was no important info on there anyway. But I surely learned my lesson. Maybe, with a little bit of luck, and a whole lot of better security practices, ransomware won’t be anybody’s sort of thing anymore in 2017.

![](https://cms.reasonlabs.com/cdn/shutterstock_492479059-1-scaled.jpg)

“Um, honey, I think we have a problem. The computer is telling me that all…

shutterstock_492479059-1-scaled.jpg

Vulnerability of the year: Ransomware

Springtime for us means it’s time for none another than…spring cleaning! And if there is one thing we love to clean, it’s PCs. Just like those nasty spaces between your bed and the wall, over time our devices fill up with junk and filth – in the form of unnecessary files, over-crowded desktops, and over-burdened Startup menus. In the good spirit that crisp, light spring air, we offer tips to help you tidy up your PC and clean up your act.

**Get rid of unused startup menu items**

Does it take ages for your PC to boot up? As if you could have been to Winter and back before you could get onto the internet? Maybe you just have too many programs starting when you boot up.  
Lots of programs, including printers attempt to start up upon booting up and they continue to run in the background even though they don’t need to be running at all. To really speed things up, keep those programs from starting up, and open them when you need them.  
To do this, go to your [Reason Core Security client](https://www.reasoncoresecurity.com/product.aspx) and choose the “Tools” tab on the top right corner. Once inside Tools, you’ll see four different options on the left side – Programs, Startup Browser Addons and Remediation. Choose Startups and it will display all the different programs that turn on automatically upon booting up. Go through the list and turn off what you don’t need.  
RCS even makes recommendations about what to turn off and what to leave. One piece of advice though, If there is a program you don’t recognize, the best thing to do is to leave it there – You don’t want to turn off something you need.

**Remove unused, unnecessary, and questionable programs** 

We all have some programs hanging out on our devices that just don’t need to be there. Sometimes they came with your PC and others you downloaded intentionally or unintentionally. These programs use resources and slow your PC down – so get rid of them! Again, go to the tools tab in your RCS client and this time pick the Programs option. Find the program you want to get rid of there and click on it. It will be on its way to program heaven in just a second. For a change of pace you can also remove unnecessary programs with our very own [Should I Remove It](http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/), which also offers helpful explanations on what programs are and whether or not they can be beneficial.  
Once you’re done with the purge, don’t forget to empty your recycle bin regularly to keep it from taking up resources.

**Clean up your desktop and files**

Do your desktop a favor and tidy it up by putting files in the right places. Keeping files on your desktop isn’t only a messy habit, (Tsk tsk, if that’s what your desktop looks like, your bedroom must be a disaster!) it also eats up memory, because the files are stored in images – put them where they go to save some memory. While you’re at it, make sure you don’t have duplicates of files – if you do, merge or delete the ones you don’t need, which will free up even more memory.

**Install and maintain your antivirus and antimalware suite**

Nothing eats speed like a nasty piece of malware – whether it’s the latest banking trojan or a zero-day attack masquerading as a Java update, malware not only puts your data at risk, it uses up resources. Keep your device malware-free with a top-notch anti-malware program like RCS that scans your PC for intruders and helps you dispose of freeloaders.  
**Cut down on downloads** 

When was the last time you looked at your downloads file? Um… like never? Well, now is as good a time as any to check it out and see whatcha got there. Chances are there are lots of things that were downloaded by accident or that you clicked on as a whim. Go through them and get rid of the ones you don’t need or want, like the download for the _“How to Get Ripped While Eating Brownies and Potato Chips in Just 10 Days!”_ ebook.  
**  
Update them updates**

If you want to keep your PC working as fast as it can, you need to keep up with updates. To check for updates to your OS and software, go to your Control Panel and choose the System and Security option. Then go to the blue “Check for updates” option under the “Windows Update” section and follow the instructions to install the recommended updates.

**To defrag or to not defrag – that is the question**  
Then there is the idea of defragmenting your hard drive to speed things up. The idea behind defragging is to collect all the little bits of fragmented data strewn about your hard drive – so is this a good idea to do or not?  
[It depends on the kind of hard drive your computer as](http://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/20179/HDD-vs-SSD-vs-SSHD-Which-storage-device-should-you-choose-for-your-Laptop-and-PC.html) – if you are working with a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), then go and defrag away. Newer computers though have Solid State Drives (or hybrid SSHD’s, which combine both kinds) SSD’s have no moving parts and are super durable, which means that there really isn’t much of a need for defragmenting. So If you do have an HDD, you can defrag all you like but if your PC has an SSD, don’t do it. As a side point, there are a lot of companies out there that try to sell software to help defragment – but Windows has its own built-in defragmenter so stick with that one.  
Another word to the wise regarding programs you really shouldn’t waste your money on, you might have heard of “PC cleaners” or registry cleaners. These programs claim that they can make your PC feel _good as new_ with a click of a button – but they don’t really do very much and some can actually be harmful to your computer, so stay away.  
If all else fails, you can try sucking up all the dust from the vents of your PC. Then take that vacuum to your bedroom, and for goodness sake, clean the spaces between the walls and your beds!  
Now if anyone can offer us any tips on how to keep our closets nice and tidy, we would be all ears…

Springtime for us means it’s time for none another than…spring cleaning! And if there is…

#Identity theft

It’s Data Privacy Day: What does your camera know about you?

Watch out for online learning scams!

7 things hackers can do with your stolen social security number (and 6 ways to protect it!)

Vulnerability of the year: Ransomware

How to spring clean your PC!

#Identity theft

It&#8217;s Data Privacy Day: What does your camera know about you?

Watch out for online learning scams!

7 things hackers can do with your stolen social security number (and 6 ways to protect it!)

Vulnerability of the year: Ransomware

How to spring clean your PC!

It’s Data Privacy Day: What does your camera know about you?