Ethan Brooks

Switching phones is exciting, but losing access to your two-factor authentication codes can lock you out of email, banking, and social media accounts. The fastest way to back up your authenticator codes before switching phones is to use the app’s built-in transfer or cloud backup feature on your old device first, then restore on the … Read more

I used to forget my passwords all the time. Before I switched, my password manager had 247 entries, and I still could not remember a single one without copy-paste. If you are weighing passkeys vs passwords and wondering what actually changes when you switch, you are in the right place. I have spent the last … Read more

I used the same password on three different sites for almost a decade. Then a friend sent me a link to HaveIBeenPwned, and I discovered my old Yahoo address appeared in 11 separate breaches. That moment pushed me to build a real routine for checking leaked passwords, and I have not paid a cent for … Read more

That knot in your stomach when you spot a password-reset email you never requested is the worst. I have been there. After years of helping friends and readers untangle hacked inboxes, I can tell you one thing: the first hour after you notice the signs your email account has been compromised is the hour that … Read more

In August , a wave of SIM swap attacks drained six-figure balances from crypto wallets protected by SMS two-factor authentication. The victims had done everything right by adding 2FA to their accounts, except they chose the weakest possible form of it. That single decision is the gap between feeling protected and actually being protected. I … Read more

A few years ago I watched a coworker lose $17,000 in under twenty minutes. He had two-factor authentication on every financial account, a password manager, and what he thought was solid phone security. Then someone called his carrier, pretended to be him, and walked away with his phone number. By the time he noticed his … Read more

One Tuesday afternoon, my cousin’s phone went dead. No bars, no calls, no texts. She assumed it was a tower issue. Within an hour, her bank account was empty, her email was locked, and someone had taken over her Instagram. That is what a SIM swap attack looks like in real life. A SIM swap … Read more

Learning how to set up account alerts is one of the smartest moves you can make to protect your money in . I have helped friends and family members configure these notifications for years, and I have watched alerts catch everything from a single $9.99 unauthorized streaming subscription to a $4,200 wire transfer that was … Read more

If you’ve ever wondered how to find everywhere your name and address appear online, you’re not alone. I went down this rabbit hole last year after a stranger messaged me with details about my old apartment. It turns out my information was sitting on more than 40 websites, including people-finder databases I had never heard … Read more

Your home address, phone number, relatives’ names, and court records are probably sitting on dozens of websites right now, free for anyone to look up. Data brokers collect this information from public records, purchase histories, and app data, then sell it to marketers, investigators, and anyone willing to pay. Removing yourself is possible, but the … Read more