In most countries in the world, the authorities are hopeless when it comes to phone theft. Whatever it is that you keep in your smart pocket bank – family photos or intellectual property or sensitive business data – there’s very little (if anything at all) that they can do to prevent unauthorized access. And, it’s not only you who trust your phone with invaluable life data. Statista reports that 2.1 billion of global population use smartphone devices, which means that criminal acts that endanger user privacy and aim towards identity theft don’t only concern you or me, but are also a matter of public security. LogMeOnce has a convenient solution. This is the story of Mugshot, a simple digital feature that does more than your police officer. How Mugshot Changes the Face of Data Security Let’s start from the beginning. The early days were all about pet name passwords. With the advent of social media, they became too easy to crack. Home addresses, anniversary dates, and dictionary words often used by unsavvy internet goers and logophiles are still the winning lottery tickets for hackers and identity thieves worldwide. Then, we were introduced to the world of two-factor authentication, fingerprint identification, and other extra layers of security. For those who knew how to properly use them, they worked well. For others, they were less effective. In order to prevent unauthorized access, we had to be really smart. In 2014, law enforcement agencies started using mobile face recognition to identify suspects in the field. As both a much-needed tech solution and an existing smartphone trend, facial recognition was finally adopted for public use. We can now unlock our devices and apps by snapping a selfie. This is where Mugshot enters the scene. LogMeOnce a dedicated data security company does a lot more. What it actually does falls under personal and enterprise password and identity management, but certainly goes beyond the realms of what’s available on the market. You might know it for its outstanding Password Management Suite. Mugshot is only an update on this comprehensive package, and as a separate feature stands side by side with a password manager with multiple login options and a passwordless photo login. Together, they can be managed via a centralized dashboard, on both desktops and mobile phones. Why Mugshot changes the face of data security as we know it? Well, because it combines different approaches for preventing unauthorized access, adding one security layer on top of another. The feature takes cues from traditional face recognition apps, but takes them to a whole different level. How Does LogMeOnce Mugshot Work, Exactly? LogMeOnce Mugshot is a clever mixture of image collection, internet monitoring software, login monitoring software, and a smartphone remote location tracker. It is “like an alarm system for your digital property,” explains Kevin Shahbazi, LogMeOnce CEO. “The technology creates a digital fence around your account to detract hackers from entering. For those hackers willing to hop the “fence,” an alarm is set off and action is taken so users can have a clear understanding of who is hacking them and where the threats are coming from.” In practice, it works like this: Your phone gets stolen or someone has unauthorized access to it. The thief manages to unlock the phone, and tries to access LogMeOnce app. The thief finds out that the app is locked, and starts snooping around for passwords. Your LogMeOnce account is the next thing on the thief’s list. As they try to access it without a master password, the account registers failed login attempts and, in the thief tries to access your account on Windows/Mac/Linux, asks the thief to install the browser extension or mobile app. The thief downloads the software, thus granting it to use their webcam and record their GPS data. They make another wrong password attempt, and Mugshot immediately takes their photo, video, audio, GPS location, IP address, date and time stamp and much more. The feature then sends this digital fingerprint of the intruder to you and accessible in your account. Is Mugshot Effective? In terms of data security, this seems like a brilliant solution. But, does it really work? Is Mugshot effective enough to prevent unauthorized access? Mugshot is, in fact, effective. This feature actually notifies the intruder that software may take a photo of them after it’s downloaded and installed as an extension or a mobile app. It gives a warning to the intruder to stay away from users account and hence discourages the intruder to attach user account. In an already cited interview for Digital Trends, Kevin Shahbazi was asked the same question. “We are notifying users that this is not an easy target” he responded. “So, if you want to hack, then you need to put on a ski mask, sunglasses, and figure out how to mask your IP address and GEO data. With such deterrence, the majority of hackers are filtered out and move on to another user who is not protected by LogMeOnce”. This is true. If an intruder wants to access the protected content within your phone, and has been performing similar data theft activities for a while, they’ll probably be experienced and shrewd enough to know that this is simply too much of a hurdle. A smart criminal would have to ask – why go into all that trouble when there’s always an easier, less risky target? Meanwhile, those with less deductive power are falling into Mugshot’s trap every day. As an example of how effective this feature is, LogMeOnce has published a Philippines-based case study, along with a redacted copy of the report sent to the (almost) victimized user. The intruder’s photo is there, and so is their IP address and precise GPS location. Mugshot truly is the best solution for preventing unauthorized access. If you are not sure or have not tried it, Go ahead and sign up for a Free account or enable your Mugshot feature. I certainly did, and for that, I’m no longer lulled

Yes, You need to Keep your Password Safe! From sensitive business documents and credit card PINs to personal diaries and photographs, we tend to have our entire life data stored on our smartphones. In order to keep it safe, we use firewalls and two-factor authentications, encryption and backups. But however sophisticated they are, all the internet protection methods in the world couldn’t prevent the terrible consequences of physical theft. Luckily, the following 10 things can. Here’s how to keep passwords safe even if your phone gets stolen. 1. It All Starts with Choosing the Strongest Password Strong, complex passwords are the best defense mechanism against online data theft, but they also keep the contents of your phone safe and secured in case your device gets lost or stolen. The importance of choosing the unbreachable one can’t be overstressed, and should never be overlooked. Of course, this applies to both your cell phone password, and those you use for protecting individual apps. Not only do they make it nearly impossible for cybercriminals to hack into your device, but they also make it harder for offline thieves to access the sensitive information stored on your phone. ● Creating Uncrackable Passwords When creating unbreachable passwords, the general rule of thumb is to avoid words, phrases, and numbers that can be easily found on your social media accounts. Birthdays and pet names, street addresses and anniversary dates, social security numbers and phone digits are all pretty weak choices. To keep passwords secure, choose a phrase that has a meaning only to you. Use as many characters as you can – the stronger passwords are 15-30 characters long – and make them a combo of symbols, numbers and uppercase and lowercase letters. Instead of passwords, think of them as passphrases. The beauty of it is that you don’t have to remember any of them. You can let your password manager do that job for you. If you cannot decide for yourself, there’s a myriad of tools that can help you. For complex passwords, consider using an online password generator. LogMeOnce password manager has builtin password calculators that estimate the approximate time hackers and thieves need to crack the password. 2. Never Use the Same Password More than Once We’re all guilty of it, especially when we don’t use password managers, but have dozens of passwords for dozens of different accounts. Instead of memorizing them all, we then decide to use the same one for multiple log-ins. Password duplication makes your information very vulnerable, so stop doing it. 3. Don’t Write Your Passwords Down To keep password safe, regardless of how long, strong and complex it is, never write it down. Storing passwords in Excel is just as risky and dangerous. Password managers are simply the safest way to store passwords – with them, you need to memorize a single master password and with LogMeOnce you can go PasswordLess, and that’s pretty easy. 4. Put Your Trust in Password Managers All the best ones are incredibly convenient and easy to use, not to mention that a password manager of any kind is a more reliable solution than keeping your passwords written on paper or saved in Excel. While some of them you can use for free, others require a fee that still won’t break your bank. A handful of these trustworthy tools go beyond providing the best way to store passwords offline and online alike. LogMeOnce is the most feature-rich product on the market, as it offers an abundance of choices for device management, double-factor authentications, and even selfie log-ins. 5. Use LogMeOnce’s Mugshot Still, one interesting feature deserves to be mentioned separately. Mugshot, is nothing less than a perfect little aid in cases of phone theft. As a thief tries to access the device, the app connects to both front and rear camera and snaps photos of the wrongdoer, sending them to your LogMeOnce online dashboard along with the IP address and the device’s GPS location. Handy, right? 6. Keep Your Phone Locked This one should go without saying, but we’ll point it out just in case. As soon as you get a new device, be that a smartphone or a tablet, set up a hard-to-crack password and enable device lock (turn screen off) at all times. If this is for some reason inconvenient for you, adjust the phone’s settings to automatically lock the device after a period of inactivity. 7. If Your Phone Supports Touch ID, Enable It Apple devices are no longer the only ones that offer a technologically advanced fingerprint security. Make sure to check whether or not your phone has it too, and to enable it if it does. There’s plenty of ways to save passwords securely, but when it comes to thefts, nothing beats touch ID. 8. Learn How to Track Your Phone in Advance You can acquire a separate device tracker! Only LogMeOnce password manager includes this powerful feature. 9. Enable Device-Wiping Device-wiping is closely connected to remote tracking, and some smartphone manufacturers offer them. LogMeOnce has it too, which can’t be said about any other password managers. It’s a simple but powerful feature, allowing you to erase data from the phone if it winds up in the wrong hands. 10. Acquire Wireless Proximity Alarm System Taken together, all of the aforementioned features will be just enough to keep your passwords safe in the unfortunate case of theft. In an ideal scenario, however, the thief wouldn’t be able to steal your phone in the first place. If something can help you protect it, it’s the wireless proximity alarm system. This alarm is both a gadget and an app, and is one way to keep your device, passwords, and data safe from stealing. The moment your phone gets even a step further than the pre-set distance limit from the alarm gadget – typically held on a key ring – the app will let you know. Though there’s not a definite advice on how to keep track of passwords safely, nor

Ever since the Safer Internet Day back in 2004, Internet security experts have been advising people on how to improve their online and browser security and how to adopt safe surfing habits. The primary intention of this “event” was to raise awareness on online threats and to help people understand that building the Internet safer is everyone’s responsibility. People find surfing the web a source of fun and enjoyment. At the same time, they don’t pay that much attention to their online security and the risks they are exposing themselves to. On the other hand, threats are very real, and you should definitely do something about them. This is why we give you 5 common browsing habits that can expose you to security threats. Avoid them, and enjoy safer and more convenient Internet browsing. Using the Same Password An average digital consumer had 3 accounts back in 2012. Today, this figure has risen to a staggering 7. This means that an average Internet user has to use and remember 7 passwords. It has become too hard to remember passwords for dozens of websites that require registration. No wonder that the most popular passwords are “123456” and “qwerty”. Nobody says that you should remember all of your passwords by heart. This is why password manager software was developed. You should definitely abandon your poor password habits and give the password manager a try. You will only need to remember a single password while the login process on your online accounts will become automated. Not Paying Attention to Browser Updates The companies that developed the Internet browsers are very well aware of the latest security threats. This is why they quite often release updates to patch the security holes and protect the privacy and improve security of their users. Sadly, people regularly disregard update push notification thus severely compromising browser security. If you are using Google Chrome, then you don’t have to worry as it company handles the updates automatically in the background. For the rest of you, make sure to update your browser whenever the update notification pops up. The updates will take care of security vulnerabilities but also improve user experience by patching memory leaks and tuning up performance bottlenecks. Fortunately, LogMeOnce automatically checks for browser updates every time you log in, and if needed, it will ask you to update before you can proceed. This also applies to the plugins you are using. The plugins may also pose a threat to your security so make sure to regularly check the plugin management page in your browser and to regularly update them. The latest versions are always the most secure to use. Disregarding the Scripts This may come as a surprise for you but a majority of websites that you use on a daily basis run their code on your computer. This code is JavaScript and web developers commonly use it to improve your browsing experience. But you should also know that JavaScript is very powerful and some people use it to write malicious code that can compromise your privacy as well as security. The first ones in the line of shared responsibility are web developers who have to do everything in their power to keep their website clean and secure for browsing. On the other hand, you should keep your browser updated and perform regular scans for malware. In addition, you can install browser plugins that will enable you to turn the JavaScript on the website you visit on and off. Accepting “Cookies” Like They are the Actual Ones Since websites that use cookies are instructed by law to inform their users that they are using cookies, chances are that you’ve already heard about them. But do you know what they are? And why are they regulated by law in many countries? Cookies are files issued by a website and they reside on your computer. They are used to store numerous information ranging from your browser type and online habits to your account info and location. You should not fall into despair because cookies cannot hack the data you have on your drive. They can only store the data that is inside your browser. If you want to work on your cookie privacy policy, you will have to decide which website you trust enough to allow it to issue cookies to your device. Since meddling with user information in any way goes under the privacy issue, all website have to inform users that they are using cookies. In addition, they have to put their Privacy Policy online so that you can read it and decide whether you want their cookies or not. If you would like a more private browsing experience, you can always start using one of the most secure browsers. Clicking on the Suspicious Links Links make our lives much easier and people with malicious intent play this card rather often. Clicking on a suspicious links can get you in real trouble and severely compromise your browser security. It can get you on websites filled with malware code or make you exposed to ransomware that encrypts all of your data. The rule of the thumb is not to open any links that you receive unless you have specifically asked for them. This especially applies to links that you receive via email. Hackers quite often use emails to send phishing links to people in order to hijack their online accounts. If you see any important notifications in your Inbox that contain a link, it is better not to click on it but to directly go to the website you have registered the account on and to check what’s going on. Malicious and suspicious links may also be hidden in the flashy, attractive and sometimes provocative banners. Such as those “You’ve won $1,000,000. Click Here to Claim your Reward!” or “We’ve Detected Virus on Your Device. Click Here to Clean It!”. You can catch our drift. Make sure you don’t fall for this oldest trick in the book.

Internet Safety for Kids According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, 33.8% students between 12 and 17 were victims of cyberbullying. To make matters worse, the following report indicates that there is a connection between bullying and suicide, as approximately 18% of students reported experiencing suicidal intentions during the past 12 months. These internet safety statistics show that there is a serious threat to our youth, especially when it comes to their online safety. In fact, around 44% of teens admitted they’ve seen things on the Internet their parents wouldn’t approve, while 20% of them have been the target of unwanted sexual solicitation. Today’s children have unlimited and immediate access to various content online, more than any generation before. Sure, the Internet has enriched our lives but it also represents a potential harm to our beloved ones. Although no one should avoid the advantages of a strong online connection, there are a couple of things you can do to make sure your kids are safe from cybercriminals. Internet Safety Tips for Parents Teach About Internet Safety [su_quote cite=”Aaron Harder, developer of multiple web-based educational tools”]“Kids may be smarter about how to use technology, but adults are much more savvy about how to handle relationships. Develop a relationship of trust with the kids through open communication so that they will come to you when they encounter a problem, without worrying that you’ll ban them from their technology.”[/su_quote] Instead of sheltering them from the Internet, start teaching them about online safety at a very young age. Look at it this way, if your children don’t have access before they become teenagers, they might not be able to control themselves when discovering all of the online possibilities. Which means they will become easy targets unless you gradually introduce them to this world and all of its dangers early on. Although the role of a parent is to protect their kids at all times, children should be able to use a computer independently. Otherwise, they will go behind your back and won’t be able to open up to you in case they encounter potential threats. So, turn your internet safety tips into a productive discussion about internet security as they are growing up. Let them know that online dangers are real by showing them examples of how quickly things can go wrong. Help them understand the consequences of posting all kinds of pictures and tell them the truth and nothing but the truth. You can use a password manager like LogMeOnce. These kinds of tools are used to protect your passwords for all those sites and apps that you and your kid use on the Internet. Stay Up-To-Date with the Latest Online Schemes Though it might not be your cup of tea, the kids spend the most of their internet time on popular social media. Therefore, in order to truly protect them, you need to keep up with the latest technology, trends, and online schemes. Of course, you can always turn on parental monitoring and apply some of the available parental control applications. But cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new scams, so monitoring kids from a digital distance just won’t cut it. You need to download and regularly update the latest security measures and patches. In addition, tell your children about phishing and warn them to avoid clicking on every social media and email URL. Also, straighten both yours and your children’s passwords. The password for kids should be long and difficult to break considering that passwords are the first line of defense from hackers. Think about implementing a quality password management system that will benefit all members of your family. After all, it might be better for you to be the only one who is in charge of the passwords. Protect the Household Internet safety is easily breakable via your home Wi-Fi network. Actually, according to the latest news, this other entry point for hackers that has been a breach. Apart from a strong kid’s password, it’s important to advise your little ones not to use public Wi-Fi networks. On the other hand, you can look into acquiring a valuable VPN. Contrary to other technologies, Virtual Private Networks take Internet privacy seriously and therefore offer encrypted data pathways via the network while hiding your IP address. They protect email accounts and messages from other messenger services granting you the ability to put an extra layer of protection on your kid’s journey online. Internet Safety Tips for Kids ● Don’t hand out personal information such as address and telephone numbers without your parents’ permission. ● Tell parents if anything online made you feel uncomfortable. ● Never go to meet someone you have “met” on the Internet without asking your parents first. ● Don’t give your passwords to anyone other than your parents. ● Consult with parents about the pictures and content you want to post online. ● Check with your parents before downloading or installing programs that can potentially harm the computer or other technologies and put your family at risk of cybercrime. ● Help your parents understand new technologies. ● Don’t buy anything online without your parent’s consent. ● Don’t send or respond to abusive messages and posts. But tell your parents if you had an encounter with such behavior online. ● Avoid posting personal information such as birthdays and last names when creating your screen name. ● Read the latest Internet safety articles and take your Internet activities seriously. Final Thoughts Being a parent is the most demanding and freighting job in the world. You want to be involved in their lives but not too controlling to the point of smothering and invading their privacy. Unfortunately, modern times are as risky as they are entertaining but there is always a way to assure your children stay safe. [su_quote cite=”David Harley, IT security researcher, and consultant”]Teach them to trust their own judgment rather than rely entirely on technical solutions and conflicting ‘official’ information resources.[/su_quote] Just follow these simple rules and educate your