Ethan Brooks

A factory sealed phone is a brand-new device sold in its original manufacturer packaging with all security seals intact, never opened, activated, or used. That phrase “factory sealed” carries a lot of weight in the used phone market. It tells buyers they are getting something pristine and untouched. Scammers know this, and they exploit that … Read more

WPA3 is the newer, more secure Wi-Fi security protocol, while WPA2 has been the home networking standard since 2004. If you have a router purchased in the last few years, you can likely upgrade to WPA3 or run both protocols in mixed mode for better protection against password cracking and eavesdropping. I have spent the … Read more

Sharing a tablet with your kids sounds simple until your five-year-old accidentally buys $80 of in-game gems or stumbles onto a video they should never see. If that has happened to you, you are not alone. One frustrated parent on Reddit wrote, “The difficulty I’m having with setting up parental controls on my kid’s tablet … Read more

You pick up your phone and notice the camera indicator light is on, but you are not taking a photo or on a video call. That small green dot can trigger immediate panic. Is an app watching you right now? Camera spyware is real. In our research across security forums and expert sources, we found … Read more

If you want the short answer up front: a physical webcam cover is more reliable than disabling the camera in your operating system settings, but the strongest protection comes from using both methods together. A webcam cover creates a physical barrier that no software can bypass, while disabling the camera in settings only blocks apps … Read more

I still remember the first time I saw that photo of Mark Zuckerberg’s laptop. There was tape over the webcam, and it instantly became a viral conversation starter. That was years ago, and the question is louder than ever in : do you really need a webcam cover anymore? Modern laptops ship with hardware-linked indicator … Read more

I remember the first time a friend’s laptop camera turned on by itself during a Zoom call. The green light flickered, then stayed solid even though no app was open. That single moment sent us down a rabbit hole of research about webcam spying, hidden processes, and rogue extensions. After weeks of testing, we built … Read more

That cheap charging cable from the gas station might be doing more than just charging your phone. In , security researchers found that some USB cables hide tiny computers inside them capable of logging every keystroke, intercepting your data, or even taking remote control of your device. Knowing how to spot a fake charging cable … Read more

I remember the day a colleague of mine, an investigative journalist, got a strange text message with a photo attachment. He didn’t tap it. He didn’t even open Messages to look. Within hours, security researchers confirmed his iPhone had been targeted by Pegasus, one of the most sophisticated spyware tools ever built. The attack worked … Read more

To set up guest mode on your Android phone, swipe down twice from the top of the screen, tap your user avatar in the top-right corner of Quick Settings, and choose “Add guest.” Your phone then creates a clean, isolated session that wipes itself when you exit. In this guide, I walk you through every … Read more