After introducing Fleets in November, Twitter is set to bin the disappearing content idea on August 3. Reasoning provided by the company in a blog post explained Fleets was intended to promote new people to contribute, but that did not happen. “Although we built Fleets to address some of the anxieties that hold people back from tweeting, Fleets are mostly used by people who are already Tweeting to amplify their own Tweets and talk directly with others.” the company said. “We’ll explore more ways to address what holds people back from participating on Twitter. And for the people who already are tweeting, we’re focused on making this better for you.” Responding to a Fleet was only possible via direct message. Twitter said it would test bringing elements from the Fleet composer into its standard tweet composer, such as full-screen camera, text formatting options, and GIF stickers. Instead of seeing Fleets at the top of user timelines, Twitter said the space would be occupied by Spaces.

“If we’re not evolving our approach and winding down features every once in a while — we’re not taking big enough chances,” the blog post said. “We’ll continue to build new ways to participate in conversations, listening to feedback and changing direction when there may be a better way to serve people using Twitter.” Earlier this week, the company said it had enabled users to change who could reply to a tweet after it was posted, users previously had to select who could reply before posting. Japan and India lead world in throwing legal requests at Twitter Twitter on Wednesday released its latest transparency report for the half year to December 31, highlighting it received over 38,500 legal demands to remove content from almost 132,000 accounts. Those demands has a 30% success rate. “Although there was a 9% decrease in the number of legal demands Twitter received, compared to the previous reporting period, these requests sought removal of content from the largest number of accounts ever in a single reporting period,” the company said. “Accounts of 199 verified journalists and news outlets from around the world were subject to 361 legal demands, a 26% increase in these requests since the previous reporting period.” Twitter said 94% of legal requests were from five countries: Japan, India, Russia, Turkey, and South Korea. Japan accounted for 30% of legal requests, almost 55,600, with India making over 12,400 demands. Japan’s strike rate against the 67,400 accounts it targeted was 31.6%, while India specified 48,300 accounts but was only sucessful 12.4% of the time. See also: With Modi squeezing Twitter, India’s love for big tech may be ending The number of legal requests from Japan was down 10% from its previous high for the first half of the 2020 calendar year. “The 16,649 requests from Japan were primarily related to laws regarding narcotics and psychotropics, obscenity, or money lending,” Twitter said. “The next highest volume of legal demands came from India, comprising 18% of global legal demands and representing a 152% increase from the previous reporting period. Notably, the number of accounts specified in requests from India also increased by 45% this reporting period.” India was the country with the highest number of legal demands against journalists and news outlets, while South Korea issued four legal demands over content on Vine alleging breaches of privacy and sexual misconduct. Twitter said it removed that content. The company listed multiple examples where it did not take action. “Twitter received multiple legal demands from Hong Kong police in relation to allegations of unlawful and obscene activities against members of law enforcement. No actions were taken as the content did not violate Twitter’s [terms of service],” it said. “Twitter received a legal demand from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for alleged hate speech violations under Malaysia’s Penal Code. No action was taken as the account shared newsworthy content and remained compliant with Twitter’s parody, Newsfeed, commentary, and fan account policy.” The company added it received legal demands from Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia that it did not act on, as well as not acting to two Thai court orders. Indonesia did slightly better on a wide-ranging demand. “Twitter received a legal demand for 60,472 accounts from Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for violating their Electronic Information and Transaction Law, Number 11 Year 2008. More than 90% of the reported content was determined not to violate Twitter’s [terms of service].” Related Coverage More

With more of our personal information being sent and stored via the internet, fraud and identity theft continue to rise. There are plenty of great options available for reasonable prices that can help to protect your identity, personal information, and credit score.

Middle-of-the-road option in terms of price

Pricing:  Individual plans ranging from $7.50 to $25 per month and family plans from $12.50 to $33.33 per month.While perhaps a bit lacking in its monitoring services, Aura’s Identity Guard is one of the most comprehensive in identity theft protection. Using an IBM Watson artificial intelligence program, Identity Guard scans the dark web for personal information such as social security numbers or banking information. This level of protection is the best available, but credit monitoring is not as robust. Identity Guard monitors three credit bureaus, but credit reports are only available once a year, and there is no opt-in for fraud alerts. This is a middle-of-the-road option in terms of price.Pros:Anti-phishing mobile app.Bank account and investment account monitoring.Customer service is rated A+ with BBB.IBM Watson artificial intelligence scanning program.Identity theft insurance up to $1 million.Monitors all three credit bureaus.Offers safe browsing tools to protect online shopping, banking, or bill paying.Reduces telemarketing calls, junk mail, and phishing emails.Social insight reports.Tax refund fraud alerts.Three different plans provide flexibility.Cons:Credit reports only once per year.Does not offer a specific computer tool package.No fraud alert with credit bureaus.No “limited power of attorney” for recovery services.No money-back guarantee.Pricey mid-tier and upper-tier plans.Single bureau credit score.

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Decent basic and cheaper option

Pricing: Ranging between $9.99 and $17.99 per month for individual plans. Identity Force also offers custom family plans and enterprise plans to businesses.Depending on which option you choose, Identity Force can either be very high on this list or very low. The basic and cheaper option is decent in terms of identity theft protection, but its credit monitoring feature doesn’t offer reports, scores, or a broad monitoring scope. However, the more expensive plan is excellent and could reach the best on this list. This is one of the more pricey options, but an annual subscription and family plan would help to lower the overall price. Pros:Access to credit report fraud assistance.Credit freeze button.Credit score simulator with the higher plan.Customer service is rated A+ with BBB.Dark web monitoring.Identity theft insurance up to $1 million.Junk mail opt-out.Offers a VPN.Quarterly credit reports.Social media identity monitoring is in the basic plan.Two-factor authentication.Two months free on annual plans.Cons:Above-average price.Best features are limited to a more expensive plan.You can’t contact customer support through the iOS app.Information like IP address, web beacons, and browser fingerprinting is collected during the registration.The lower tier plan doesn’t offer credit monitoring for all three bureaus.No refunds for cancelling the service.Only two plan options.Subpar mobile app.

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Best way to cover a large family

Pricing: Individual plans range from $13.95 to $17.95 a month. The family plan ranges from $19.95 to $32.95 and is where the real value lies.If you are looking for the best way to cover a large family, this is probably the best option. By offering coverage for 10 people in their family plan, IDShield has the best family plan. Individual plans lack computer protections such as VPN or anti-virus software. For families, there’s no better option.  Pros:Alerts you whenever sex offenders move to your area.Bank accounts monitored.Customer service rated as A+ with BBB.The family plan is available for up to 10 people.Identity theft insurance up to $5 million.Monitors all three credit bureaus with 12-month credit score tracking.Offers additional educational resources.Quarterly credit reports.Will assign a private investigator to help restore a stolen identity.Cons:Above average price for individual plans.Alerts must be activated to receive them.Confusing setup.Limited plan levels and options.No computer protections.No credit reports.No credit simulation.No 401(k) or retirement account monitoring.No VPN or anti-virus software.Single bureau credit score.

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LifeLock’s identity fraud protections are among the very best

Pricing: Basic plans start at $8.99 a month and provide “good enough” internet security, but the best protection comes with the more expensive plans that cap out at $34.99 per month.It can be pretty hard to beat Norton when it comes to internet security, but LifeLock is an excellent alternative. LifeLock’s identity fraud protections are among the very best. LifeLock’s identity theft insurance is some of the best on the market, but credit monitoring is among the worst on this list. Most egregiously, LifeLock doesn’t have a family plan. Instead, each child must have their own junior plan, which is about $5.99 extra per child every month. Pros:All plans provide identity theft insurance.Constant dark web scans for personal data.Includes VPN.Insurance includes stolen funds reimbursement and personal expense compensation.Norton 360 software is available with some plans, excellent protection against viruses, spyware, and malware for up to five different devices.Real-time fraud alerts are available by text, phone, and email.60-day money-back guarantee with the annual plan.Three different plans available: Standard, Advantage, and Ultimate Plus.Tracks social security number.Up to $1 million for lawyers and experts, $25,000 to $1 million for stolen funds and personal expense compensation.Cons:Above average price.Coverage for children is an additional $5.99 for each child per month.Credit file can only be locked with one bureau, not all three.Must meet credit requirement to be eligible for credit protection and monitoring.No credit simulator.No family plan offered with LifeLock. Must purchase an additional junior plan for children.The standard plan comes with less identity theft insurance.The standard plan lacks alerts such as bank account and credit card activity.Standard and Advantage plans only monitor one credit bureau.

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There are better options available

Pricing: The plans range in price from $9.99 to $24.99 monthly, so if you are only looking for very certain coverage, you could find a good one for cheap. PrivacyGuard essentially offers an identity theft protection plan, a credit reporting plan, and a plan that includes both. So in that way, it’s good for giving you exactly what you want, but some of the plan options severely lack what some may consider crucial features. However, there are better options available on this list for a similar price when it comes to comprehensive coverage.Pros:All three credit bureaus monitored with some plans.Antivirus software.Customer service rating of A+ with BBB.Monthly blended credit reports are available with some plans.New users can try any plan for two weeks for just $1.Three different options are available with different options.Up to $1 million identity theft insurance with some plans.Cons:No bank account monitoring.No family plans offered.Social network monitoring not provided.Some plans have glaring gaps in credit or identity monitoring on their own.

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What do identity theft protection services do?

These services will monitor websites and various databases for any signs of your personal information such as social security number, driver’s license number, bank account number, credit card number, etc. If any of this information is found online anywhere, it could be used in many different ways to steal money from you. These protection services will typically alert you and inform you of what you should do to prevent any future issues or help you to recover from theft. 

What are the signs of identity theft?

The most common signs associated with identity theft are collection calls or credit reports related to accounts you didn’t open, unexpectedly being denied a loan or credit card, and bills for accounts you didn’t open. It can take a long time before seeing evidence that your identity has been stolen and will come quickly and surprisingly. 

What should I look for in an identity theft protection service?

There are several things on the checklist that you should adhere to when searching for an identity theft protection service. Arguably the most important aspects when comparing one to the other would be: their monitoring and how extensive it goes, their alerts and how quickly you will be notified of fraud attempts, and recovery and how much insurance is offered and additional help and services.

Which is the right service for you?

Overall the best plan for protecting your identity and monitoring your credit as an individual is probably Identity Guard. While its credit monitoring is a little lacking, it comes through with its identity theft protection. However, if you are looking to cover your entire family, then you may want to look into IDShield, particularly if you have a large family that you want to protect. 

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For longer than some of you have been alive, I’ve been preaching the gospel of using more secure desktop operating systems. You see, Windows has been insecure since 1985’s Windows 1.0, really an MS-DOS extension, rolled out the door. Then, as now, there were more secure options. Then it was Unix desktop operating systems. Today […] More

A lack of business investment means cybersecurity teams are struggling to keep enterprise networks secure at a time when the rise in remote working is providing additional security challenges — and it’s having an impact on their well-being.

A global study of cybersecurity professionals by information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and industry analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) warns that this lack of investment, combined with the challenge of additional workloads, is resulting in a skills shortage that’s leading to unfilled jobs and high burnout among information security staff. According to the study, which surveyed over 500 cybersecurity professionals, 57 percent say a shortage of cybersecurity skills has impacted the organisation they work for, while just over ten percent report a significant impact. The effect is an increased workload for information security staff, according to 62 percent of respondents. That’s had a knock-on effect on the mental health of information security staff, 38 percent of whom say they’ve experienced burnout as a result of extra work pressures during what was already a difficult year.  “The impact, especially this past year of the pandemic, has been significant. Teams are expected to do even more as a result of businesses moving to the remote operating model,” says Candy Alexander, board president of ISSA International.  “The risk landscape has shifted dramatically to a more exposed environment and a cyber-war is in full swing with ransomware attacks becoming devastating to many businesses. Cybersecurity professionals are now challenged with keeping up with the latest and greatest threats,” Alexander adds. One of the reasons many cybersecurity staff have struggled is because of the sudden rise of remote working as a result of the global pandemic: 50 percent of respondents say this has led to an increase in stress. 

Greater prevalence of remote working has made some aspects of enterprise network security more difficult, as cybersecurity staff have needed to help employees — many of whom may not have worked from home before — stay safe.   More remote working means greater usage of cloud applications, which has led to increased demand for cybersecurity professionals with skills in cloud computing security . A significant number of organisations are struggling to find the people to fill these gaps. Almost four in ten (39%) of cybersecurity professionals say their organisation is struggling to fill cloud computing security roles. Meanwhile, 30 percent are finding it difficult to fill vacancies in application security, and there’s a similar story when it comes to security analysis and investigation. Basic mistakes The ISSA/ESG report found that many organisations are making basic mistakes in hiring and recruiting cybersecurity professionals. More than three-quarters said it was extremely or somewhat difficult to recruit and hire security professionals, but 38% said their organisation doesn’t offer competitive compensation, while 29% said their HR department doesn’t understand the skills needed for cybersecurity and 25% said that job postings at their organisation tended to be unrealistic. Three-quarters of security professionals said that they were approached by recruiters every month. Part of the issue, the report suggests, is many boardrooms view cybersecurity as a cost — something that needs money spent on it but doesn’t help the bottom line of the business — especially when organisations think about finances in the short-term. It’s likely these boardrooms still see cybersecurity as a technology issue rather than a business issue, which is naïve when high-profile data breaches and ransomware attacks have demonstrated that if cybersecurity isn’t managed correctly, it can have huge consequences for the whole business, not just the IT and cybersecurity teams. “Cybersecurity is seen as a cost centre to the business — something you have to do, but only to a minimal degree, like paying the light bill. We need to shift the conversation to aligning our security programs with the business,” says Alexander.  “Businesses have a tendency to invest in things they see value in. We need to ensure they see the value in our cybersecurity programs — including people, training and technology,” she added.  People and training are a key issue here: technology changes fast and the methods cyber criminals use to break into networks are constantly evolving, so it’s important for organisations not only to hire the right people, but also to invest in training them so they can continue in their jobs by reacting to the latest threats and dealing with new forms of technology.  But that doesn’t start with employers: in order to ensure there are enough people to fill cybesecurity jobs going forward, education and training pathways are needed.  “At a societal level, we have to do more to educate school age children about cybersecurity and career opportunities,” says Jon Oltsik, Senior Principal Analyst and ESG Fellow.  “We need more funding for cybersecurity scholarships. We need more internship and mentoring programs. All of these things are works in progress and there are some worthwhile efforts, but supply is not keeping up with demand and it won’t anytime soon”.  In the meantime, it’s recommended that CISOs are in communication with the board in order to ensure that they’re aware of the needs of cybersecurity and that they are getting appropriate amount of attention and investment. And while issues around the available cybersecurity workforce might continue to be a problem for CISOs for now, there are tools and technologies that can help ease the staff workloads, helping to improve both their wellbeing and the organisation’s cyber defences. “CISOs must make all decisions assuming the impact of the cybersecurity skills shortage. This requires a greater commitment to working with service providers, process automation, and advanced analytics technologies,” says Oltsik.  

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