crylam

This past October, Kroll Inc. Suggested in their Annual Global Fraud Report that for the first time digital robbery exceeded bodily robbery and that companies providing monetary services had been amongst those who had been most impacted through the surge in cyber assaults. Later that identical month, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that cyber criminals have been focusing their attention on small to medium-sized corporations.

The 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report posted via the Verizon RISK Team disclosed that there had been 855 facts breach incidents and 174 million compromised statistics that took place in 2011. In contrast to the 2011 investigative report, there was an boom of 94 records breach incidents and an overwhelming one hundred seventy million compromised information. These alarming information display that properly-completed cyber assaults resulting in a a hit statistics breach almost doubled within the past year. Today, the danger of cyber attacks maintains to monopolize news headlines round the arena as cyber criminals more and more use the internet to implement a mass generation of malware exploits. Cyber assaults have now evolved right into a common and pricey incident with an increasing number of businesses turning into a victim of at the least one facts breach inside the past year. According to the Ponemon Institute, "the possibilities of an organisation being hacked in a 12-mont

It is hard to not worry about the safety of our inner-connected world. Malware, ransomware, hackers, phishing, trolls....the list of people and organizations who want to make our life difficult, dangerous, and expensive seems to grow as quickly as algae in a backyard swimming pool. On average, there are 244 new cyber threats a day. I am a humble example, as my post of a few months ago made clear when a hacker broke into my computer. Your patient information from your health insurer, or financial details ripped from your credit card company are fair game. Disabling a hospital's admittance system for an entire country happened this past summer. And, don't even get me started on Equifax. Making money off my private information, giving me no way to "opt out," and then losing it all. Enough! If you follow even the most basic of common sense steps, the odds of your home computer becoming someone else's to control are increasingly possible. Those who decided to hack int

Whether to pay off a mortgage before or just after retirement is a topic I have addressed before. But, it is such a major decision, I get at least one email every few weeks asking my advice. No wonder. With nearly 30% of all those 65+ having monthly mortgage payments, it is important to make the best choice for you.  As I write this, the picture is anything but clear. Plans for a tax cut are bouncing around the halls of Congress. As of now, mortgage interest deductions would be protected. But, an increase in the standard deduction and a change in personal deductions might be coupled with the loss of real estate tax deductions, making house ownership potentially more expensive for some.  So, for purposes of this post, let's stick with how things are right now. After the dust settles in Washington and there is clarity (?) I might do a followup to adjust to the new reality. Retirement brings its own unique set of concerns and decisions. Near the top of many lists is a decision about h

This will be Betty's last year to endure the swampy water of the Healthcare Marketplace. Ever since 2011 she has had to put up with the same crap....misinformation, provider lists that are wrong, fewer choices. and higher prices.  In 16 months she will be Medicare-eligible....we can hardly wait. Like last year, there is one company in Arizona offering plans for the individual market through the marketplace. Predictably, prices went up 20%. That included a higher deductible, lower hospital cost coverage and a switch to a different hospital system. Whether her primary care doctor or any of the specialists she sees will be under contract for next year is impossible to know until sometime in January, or too late to do anything about it.  We do qualify for a monthly subsidy from the government that keeps the total affordable, even with the large monthly bump in price. But, this turmoil every year is taking its toll on my wife. With lawmakers in Washington unable to either kill the ACA o

Last month, a reader suggested I explore the journey of retirees who have lived their life a little differently than many of us. That sounded like a fascinating idea. The problem? My retirement has been pretty standard. While I left the working world earlier than I had planned, I live in suburbia, have a steady life, and rather traditional goals for myself and my family. Something may go wrong at some time in the future, but I am not the person to ask about retirement done "differently." What I can do is share some examples of what a "different" retirement may look like. But, then, the real expert is you. Either you have approached this phase of life on a less-traveled path, or you know someone who has. This should be a an interesting learning experience for us all! I guess this is a natural followup to the previous post about retirement being a personal path. Examples of a Retirement Done Differently 1.  Retire to a foreign country Becoming an expat is the choice o