Although Microsoft was founded 38 years ago this month, don't fall for a widespread scam that offers free “Xbox points” for wishing the company a happy birthday. Online offers that seem too good to be true probably are. Learn more about common scams that use the Microsoft name . One way...

Many respondents to a recent Microsoft survey expressed concern about trickier scams that are happening on social networks. The Microsoft Malware Protection Center recently blogged about one of these new scams that claims to offer a free Costco gift card to all Facebook users. But don’t click...

Last month McAfee released results from their 2012 Teen Internet Behavior study . The study revealed that 61 percent of teens think that they can successfully hide their online behavior from their parents. Here are a few examples of what they do: Erase browser history Minimize browser window...

This month Microsoft teamed up with Facebook to offer its free anti-virus protection. Microsoft Security Essentials is now one of the choices in Facebook Anti-Virus Marketplace to help protect your computer. Microsoft Security Essentials: Offers protection against viruses, worms, and other malware...

Mobile services (often called “geolocation” services) now have the ability to track and share our location with friends. Location positioning services can help you find local movie times, weather, or directions to the nearest coffee shop. They can also help you find out where your friends...

Most of us put a boundary between our personal and professional lives. Online that’s not easy to do. In the Official Microsoft blog, Brendon Lynch, Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer , writes, “Every piece of personal information that exists online about you -- whether posted by you or by...

Your best friend from high school is probably not a cat burglar. But do you know everyone on your friends’ and followers’ lists (or everyone on their lists) on your social networking sites? If not, don’t post information about your holiday travel plans. More information about social...

Right now, in the United States, summer vacation season is here and so are scams . Here are three tips to help you avoid summer travel scams. 1. Watch out for deals that look too good to be true. If you’re still making vacation plans, then you’re probably looking for deals. If a deal looks...

Did you know that you can chat with Facebook friends within Hotmail? Just connect your Facebook account to Windows Live and be sure the “Chat with my Facebook friends in Messenger” box is selected. No matter where you’re chatting, it’s a good idea to be cautious. There...

Pornographic images of children circulate on the Internet at an alarming rate. Since 2002, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have reviewed and analyzed nearly 49 million photos and videos of child pornography--more than 13 million in 2010 alone--according to Ernie Allen...

You can use your smartphone and location services (also known as “geolocation”) to post information about where you are at any given time. But before you use geolocation, you might want to consider these safety tips: Share your location only with people you trust. For example, in a...

A blog reader recently wrote in: "A Facebook friend just told me that if the web browser says http:// and not https:// that my security is compromised. Is this true? How can I fix it?" Your friend is right. Sort of. If you're just browsing the web and not entering any sensitive information...

The Internet Explorer 9 beta protects against 99 percent of “socially engineered malware,” according to independent researcher NSS Labs . What is socially engineered malware? Cybercriminals use socially engineered malware to gain access to your computer. According to NSS Labs, socially...

You probably already know not to open suspicious looking email attachments and not to send money to foreign princes proffering elaborate sob stories. But the tiny images that you can click on your favorite websites are safe, right? Not necessarily. Cybercriminals can create fake links even...

Screen scraping is the act of taking all the information that a person has posted on their Web site or social networking page and then using the information to break into the user’s account or to commit some other fraud involving identity theft . Social networking Web sites such as Facebook have grown...

A few weeks ago we told you about Microsoft’s involvement in Data Privacy Day . The day has arrived, but if you’re not going to be in Washington D.C. to join in the event, you can download research or watch a video about online reputations and how employers are increasingly mining the Internet as part...

Back in February we talked about how to help protect your personal information on the social networking site, Facebook . Since then Facebook has grown exponentially and the one truism about computer security is that cyber criminals follow the crowds. We’ve heard about lots of scams on Facebook, ranging...

Most scams (online and off) depend, in part, on the victim's interest in getting something for nothing. This is true for lottery scams, stock scams, and other frauds .   But a recent scam on the social networking site Facebook relies instead on trust and willingness to help friends in need. A scammer...