Today marks exactly 10 days before Christmas...the mad rush to get all of the Christmas responsibilities done is at its most heightened point!  Folks are in a hurry, hassled and stressed.  When our focus is on a million things, it may not be on security diligence while we are out and about during the Holiday season.

The first week of December has come and gone and most of us procrastinators are finally beginning to start our Christmas shopping.  Shopping on line has become so easy lately, that this year, on line sales are rivaling "Black Friday" sales.  In some cases, you can order as late as Christmas eve and have your gift delivered on time!  So simple and convenient.

In musing about what I was going to write in today's blog, I turned on my T.V. to get my morning news fill and there it was...another hacking story.  "Well", I told myself.  "I've written about cyber security many times.  Do I write about it again"?

Ahhh.

I love coffee...which is why I love coffee houses.  So I frequent coffee houses all the time.  There never is a time that I'm in a coffee house that it isn't filled with students, writers, on-line shoppers, YouTube aficionados...all ardently conducting  their business on their laptops or tablets.

In today's "instant gratification" society — in which heightened customer expectations and 24x7 accessibility demands really burden small business — little time remains for much else. Small businesses often don't have the resources or inclination to track the latest computer news, security threats, or even common break/fix tips.

Every month there is another cause to support, sometimes several of them.  In some ways, the multitude of "cause" issues have rendered the campaigns a bit mundane.  Unfortunately, with domestic violence, the constant reports of abuse from the everyday household to the celebrity keeps this issue in the news and far from being mundane.

Oh my goodness...!

Not too long ago, I wrote a "Social Engineering" blog that I thought was pretty detailed.  It discussed different types of "Social Engineering" in depth; warning signs and what steps to take if you feel you've been victimized.

It truly is the Wild West out there.

We live with crime everyday.  It's become commonplace...unfortunately.  And, one of the frustrating aftermaths of being victimized by criminal activity is feeling victimized all over again when you try to rectify the situation and normalize your life.

I don't normally open up an article with statistics...but the following are fascinating, I believe, and really speak loudly about current events in the world of cybersecurity...

Concern about identity theft rates slightly higher than fears of job and healthcare loss.

Did you know a whopping 91% of us own some sort of cell phone?  Of that 91%, approximately 64% of us are using a Smart Phone. It's so convenient, isn't it?  We are virtually connected...anytime...anywhere.

Interesting statistics, but how is this relevant?  Because a lot of "On-Line" activity is being conducted via cell phone, that leaves us susceptible to cyber criminal activity on our cell phones as well as our computers.