Smart toys are expected to account for 18% of both the toy and video game markets by 2018. While robot pets, drones and interactive action figures sound harmless enough, there have been plenty of instances in which various smart toys were made vulnerable to cyberattacks. One of the most well-known cases is the VTech data […]

We truly live in the age of the internet. Thanks to widespread connectivity and the mass adoption of smartphone technology, we can order plane tickets whilst in bed, or buy a sofa on the train to work. This digital revolution hasn’t come without its consequences, however. Hackers and fraudsters are becoming ever more adept at […]

If you’re being bullied online. support is available Being bullied is awful in any setting, but online bullying can feel inescapable. Bullies tend to hide behind the anonymity the Internet provides, feeling powerful and able to insult people via email, instant messaging and social media. In some cases simply ignoring the comments can be enough […]

Phishing, vishing, smishing… do you know what these are and how to stop becoming a victim of them?  A major new awareness campaign was launched today (10th November) in an effort to help people get wise to scams.  The campaign – ‘If you can spot it, you can stop it’ – put together by the […]

Having cost the UK almost £11bn in the past year, online fraud and cybercrime are becoming increasingly uncomfortable facts of modern life. Yet even though many of us are becoming more clued up to such threats, some of us are still failing to take the necessary precautions. For example, almost half of us are still using […]

NatWest has released details of some of the most unbelievable scams seen in the last year to remind everyone that scammers are going to increasing lengths to target customers. Each of the cases presented in this article was brought to the attention of NatWest’s Community Protection Advisers (CPAs). These anti-fraud specialists work with frontline employees […]

Websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn put us in touch with ‘friends’ we’ve never seen in person.  And a lot of us look for partners online too.   These days a third of all relationships begin that way. That’s a lot of happy stories.  But what happens when you move from fantasy to reality and you […]

Identity fraud is rising in the UK: January statistics show that financial fraud is up 8% since the end of last year, and there were five million cases of fraud in 2015 alone. With fraudsters finding ever more inventive ways to try and steal your identity, and personal details being sold illicitly on the dark […]

Next Tuesday – 9th February – sees the return of Safer Internet Day. Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, the aim of Safer Internet Day is to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children. Childwise, a research agency, recently announced a landmark change in how children […]

More and more teenagers and young people are getting involved in cybercrime. Many do it for fun without realising the consequences of their actions – but the penalties can be severe. Cybercrime isn’t a victimless crime – it is a serious criminal offence and the National Crime Agency (NCA) and police take cybercrime extremely seriously. The […]