Author archives

Pete Weiss, formerly a Systems Engineer in Teleprocessing at The Pennsylvania State University

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 23, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Foundations for OT Cybersecurity: Asset Inventory Guidance for Owners and Operators; How poisoned data can trick AI − and how to stop it; This Is How They Know You’re Using a VPN; Swedish startup unveils Starlink alternative — that Musk can’t switch off; and Burner Phone 101 Workshop.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 16, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Leading AI Agents Like ChatGPT Are Vulnerable to Hacking, Security Firm Finds; FBI Alert: This New Smartphone Scam Can Steal All Your Data; A Bug at Social Security Admin Has Been Rerouting Phone Calls to Random Offices; Leading AI Agents Like ChatGPT Are Vulnerable to Hacking, Security Firm Finds; and Crypto Security and Scams.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Cryptocurrency, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legislative, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 9, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: States Have More Data About You Than the Feds Do. Trump Wants to See It; Instagram Map lets your friends, and possibly exes, track your every move; Samsung phones can detect AI voice phishing attacks with One UI 8; Uber Gets Report of Sexual Misconduct Every 8 Minutes; and Home Depot and Lowe’s Share Data From Hundreds of AI Cameras With Cops.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Federal Legislative Research, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 3, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Online Scams and Attacks in America Today; You probably should not use link shorteners; Is Your Phone Call Really Private?; Malicious extensions can use ChatGPT to steal your personal data – here’s how; The food supply chain has a cybersecurity problem; and Why Smart People Fall for False Information and What to do About It.

Subjects: AI, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Education, Health, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 12, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Employees are quietly bringing AI to work and leaving security behind; AI could harm your critical thinking skills. Should that change how you use it?; Device disregard is multiplying digital ghosts across federal agencies; Fake online stores look real, rank high, and trap unsuspecting buyers; and Appeals court strikes down ‘click-to-cancel’ rule.

Subjects: AI, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Education, Financial System, KM, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 5, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Your browser lets websites track you even without cookies; Smart Home Locks: What You Need To Know Before Installing; Patients, providers duped in records-and-payment scam; Google Ordered to Pay $314M for Misusing Android Users’ Cellular Data Without Permission; and Android 16 can warn you if a fake cell tower is trying to spy on you.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 28, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Scale AI’s Public Google Docs Reveal Security Holes in AI Projects; Judge rules Anthropic’s use of books to train AI model is fair use; US Official Claims DeepSeek Aids China’s Military, Evaded Controls; Who’s guarding the AI? Even security teams are bypassing oversight; and Financial deepfake scams targeted in bipartisan Senate bill.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Legislative, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 21, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: How to Avoid a Huge Customs Bill on a Cheap Online Order; ‘No Kings’ Protests, Citizen-Run ICE Trackers Trigger Intelligence Warnings; 16 billion passwords exposed in record-breaking data breach, opening access to Facebook, Google, Apple, and any other service imaginable; How to Find the Owner of a VoIP Number: Easy Lookup Methods; and AI Chatbots Are Impersonating Students to Steal Financial Aid.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy