If you’re traveling with your laptop, tablet, smartphone, or other device this spring break, the following tips can help you stay safer online with a mobile device. Make sure your laptop or tablet has up-to-date antivirus and antispyware software installed. Windows 8 includes antivirus protection...

Calling all teens! Here's your chance to create something fun that can help others. Start by reading the eligibility requirements and prize information in the official rules . Then have a look at the online safety materials from Microsoft for ideas to do one of the following: Stage a skit or...

The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR ) analyzes online threats using data from Internet services and over 600 million computers worldwide. Volume 13 of the SIR is now available and focuses on vulnerability disclosures from the first and second quarters of 2012. A featured article, Deceptive...

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...

Several readers have contacted us lately about suspicious text messages that they’ve received on their smart phones. Some of these messages appear to be from Microsoft , Starbucks, Best Buy, or other well-known companies and are designed to trick you into clicking links with lures of free gifts...

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...

Digital citizenship is usually defined as a set of standards of behavior for technology use. Adults, teens, and even younger children can learn how to be good digital citizens. On September 8, 2011 Microsoft released a white paper about digital citizenship and results from a teen reputation survey...

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...

These days almost everything online requires a password. You already know that you should use complicated passwords and that you shouldn't use the same password for every account. Here are more tips on how to create stronger passwords and how to test your password strength . If you want to know why...

Microsoft will celebrate Safer Internet Day (SID) on February 8, 2011 to raise awareness of online safety and promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile devices. Organized by Insafe , SID is celebrated in more than 60 countries around the world. Research to be released...

Microsoft just released a free ebook to help teens keep themselves and their stuff safer online. In partnership with security expert and author, Linda McCarthy , this free downloadable version of her new book, "Own Your Space - Keep Yourself and Your Stuff Safe Online" is written for computer and...

Microsoft recently joined forces with the organization Enough is Enough to publicize a new safety education program , Internet Safety 101 . Internet Safety 101 is a DVD for parents, educators, and other caregivers to use to help protect kids online. For more information about the DVD, see About the...

If your idea of Girl Scouts is cookies and lanyards, then you need to get yourself to the 21st century. Cookies and lanyards are hardly a thing of the past, but Girl Scouts have also kept up with changing times. To help support that, Microsoft recently joined forces with Girl Scouts of the USA...