Information

Kids Online As children turn to AI chatbots for answers, advice, and companionship, questions emerge about their safety, privacy, and emotional development Phil Muncaster 23 Jan 2026  •  , 4 min. read AI chatbots have become a big part of all of our lives since they burst onto the scene more than three years ago. ChatGPT, for example, says it has around 700 million weekly active users, many of whom are “young people.” A UK…

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Here’s how the most common scams targeting Apple Pay users work and what you can do to stay one step ahead Phil Muncaster 22 Jan 2026  •  , 6 min. read Apple Pay is clearly a hit with consumers. According to estimates, it had hundreds of millions of global users and processed trillions of payments in 2025 alone. But where there is money to be made, scammers will not be far behind. Apple is well…

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Digital Security Once again, data shows an uncomfortable truth: the habit of choosing eminently hackable passwords is alive and well Christian Ali Bravo 20 Jan 2026  •  , 3 min. read ‘123456’ continues to reign supreme as the most commonly-used password among people across the world, according to two reports, from NordPass and Comparitech, respectively. A full 25 percent of the top 1,000 most-used passwords are made up of nothing but numerals. In addition, ‘123456’…

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Social Media The business social networking site is a vast, publicly accessible database of corporate information. Don’t believe everyone on the site is who they say they are. Phil Muncaster 16 Jan 2026  •  , 4 min. read In November, Britain’s Security Service began notifying members of parliament (MPs) and their staff of an audacious foreign intelligence-gathering scheme. It claimed two profiles on LinkedIn were approaching individuals working in British politics in order to solicit…

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Social Media Should verified identities become the standard online? Australia’s social media ban for under-16s shows why the question matters. Tony Anscombe 14 Jan 2026  •  , 5 min. read New legislation in Australia makes it illegal for those under 16 to have a social media account. To avoid financial penalties, social media companies have scrambled to remove accounts they believe breach the legislation. Notably, there are no consequences for the under-16s who attempt to…

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If your data is on the dark web, it’s probably only a matter of time before it’s abused for fraud or account hijacking. Here’s what to do. Phil Muncaster 13 Jan 2026  •  , 5 min. read Contrary to popular belief, much of the dark web isn’t the den of digital iniquity that some commentators claim. In fact, there are plenty of legitimate sites and forums there offering privacy-enhanced content and services to help individuals…

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