Lavasoft has been a supporter of National Cyber Security Awareness Month for several years by promoting online safety, security, and privacy awareness. Celebrated every October, NCSAM was created to ensure everyone has the resources required to stay safer online. In an effort to promote online safety and security, here are five posts to help you and your family stay safe online:

This week Microsoft officially addressed the wide range of privacy concerns that have been reported regarding large-scale data collection in Windows 10. Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group, posted to the official blog and reiterated the company’s commitment to listening to customer feedback regarding privacy concerns: 

According to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2015 Identity Fraud Study, 12.7 million people were victims of identity theft last year, at a cost of $16 billion. It’s tax season and criminals sees this as another opportunity to take advantage of your personal information. Don’t become the next victim.

SnapMyScreen is a firefox toolbar application that claims to enhance a user’s web browsing experience while giving you the ability to take screenshots. While this program may seem useful at first glance, it collects data a user may consider to be private, such as information about your internet browsing habits. It then sends this information to Mindspark, which in turn suggests services and displays sponsored adverts via the toolbar.