Gen Z grads are getting the axe — 6 in 10 employers have already let them go. Plus, a massive security breach exposed the private info of millions. Find out how one guy spent $1K on Facebook Ads to find love and about a new law that could change your car radio.
How NASA plans to back up data on lunar soil
Let me ask you a question: Do you think the cloud is a safe place to back up your data, the world’s treasures and government secrets? In a world of increasing breaches, hackers and threats, even cloud storage might not be enough.
Welcome to the next frontier: Lunar backups. NASA is teaming up with Lonestar, a Florida-based startup, and the Isle of Man, that self-governing British Crown Dependency you might’ve never heard of, to store data on the moon. Think of it like the ultra-secure Fort Knox but for digital information.
🚀 Blockchain goes intergalactic
How do you keep data safe on the moon? By using a blockchain — the same tech behind crypto. It ensures data is secure, genuine and tamper-proof. This isn’t your mom’s filing cabinet; it’s out of this world.
The first data cube, “Freedom,” landed on the moon in February 2024, proving the concept works. Lonestar’s first commercial mission takes off in 2026. Oh, and the Isle of Man’s post office got in on the fun, too, sending digital stamps to the moon. Now that’s first-class mail.
🌝 Why the moon?
The moon isn’t becoming a storage locker for your embarrassing selfies. The mission is first to preserve humanity’s crown jewels — our most vital data. Think of it as Earth’s external hard drive or a modern Library of Alexandria (hopefully, with a less tragic end).
What’s on the moon-bound list? Obvious candidates include:
- Scientific research: DNA sequencing data, climate models and pandemic studies.
- Cultural archives: Literary classics, historical texts and digitized art collections.
- Financial records: Stock market data, transaction histories and economic models.
- Health care information: Genome mapping and medical research.
- National security data: Sensitive classified information.
- Tech blueprints: Designs for critical infrastructure, from power plants to the internet backbone.
- “The Kim Komando Show”: Audio files of all my shows, because they’re that important to all mankind. (OK, I made that up!)
🌎 Earth vs. the moon
Not everyone’s on board with storing data on the moon. It’s not like you can send a tech to fix things. And retrieving something? Think “break glass in case of emergency,” not your daily backup.
Accessing lunar data would take spacecraft, encryption and dealing with space itself. Long-term storage? Sure. Easy? Not at all.
Small-biz tip: Don't overlook this digital danger
Are you the type of business owner who forgets about ex-employees as soon as they’re gone? Failing to remove former employees’ access to your systems and data could lead to security breaches. Don’t let poor offboarding practices be the weak link in your cybersecurity chain.
🍩 Krispy Kreme’s security hole: The doughnut giant’s fessing up about a Nov. 29 security breach that took down its online ordering system in parts of the U.S. Along with your credit card details, it’s a safe bet your deep, dark secrets (like how many times you bought a doughnut on the way to work) were leaked, too. Sing it with me: “Doughnut go breaking my heart. I couldn’t if I fried.” Yeah, that was bad.
40% of employees
Getting laid off at 23andMe. The DNA company narrowly avoided being delisted from the stock exchange after 7 million people’s data was stolen. If you used 23andMe, delete your info, like, now.
These passwords take 1 second to crack
Here’s a wild stat: 78% of the world’s most common passwords can be cracked in less than a second. The most-used password in the world, “123456,” has been leaked more than 3 million times. And get this: 1.2 million of those were corporate passwords.
Everything we know about the MoneyGram breach
Another day, another massive data breach. This time, it’s MoneyGram, a global mega-company that handles money transfers, bill pay and other financial services. They have digital platforms and retail locations, and they even power Walmart’s money-transfer service.
🚨 Data disaster: Archive.org, the internet’s digital library, just suffered a massive breach, leaking 31 million records — emails, addresses, screen names and hashed passwords. The site claims a DDoS attack, but reports confirm it was actually hacked. The cherry on top? Hackers temporarily posted on the homepage, “See 31 million of you on HIBP!” That’s Have I Been Pwned.
😡 Frustration overload: This summer’s National Public Data hack leaked the personal details of 2.9 billion people. Now, the company’s drowning in class-action lawsuits and might be stuck paying for credit monitoring. No surprise, they just filed for bankruptcy, claiming only a few thousand dollars in assets. How convenient.
🚨 Fidelity Investments got hacked: No details yet on what personal data was leaked from 77,000 customers, but Fidelity says funds weren’t accessed. Hackers got in using two newly created customer accounts. I’ll bet you $10 that the number of customers affected is much, much higher. Change your passwords.
MoneyGram data breach: Over 150 million customers were exposed. We’re talking names, addresses, IDs, bank account numbers, the whole nine yards. How’d they do it? Someone pretended to work there and got in. If you’re affected, expect to get a notice offering two years of free identity protection and credit monitoring services.
🚨 Comcast and Truist Bank data breach: Both used Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS) to collect unpaid debts on their behalf. Around 7.4 million FBCS customers had their full name, SSN, DOB, driver’s license number or ID card, and other personal data breached. You know the drill — freeze your credit and watch out for phishing scams, texts and phone calls.
🚨 Seven years of slacking: Meta’s been slapped with a $101 million fine for storing up to 600 million Facebook and Instagram passwords in plain-text format. That’s a major security no-no. Even worse? The breach was discovered in 2019, but some passwords had been unprotected since 2012 and were searchable by over 20,000 Meta employees. The fine isn’t big enough.
So much data left exposed for anyone to see
Another day, another monumental data breach. Just because they’re getting more common doesn’t mean you can tune it out. In fact, it’s time to get even more serious about your private information and what’s posted online.
Spot the fake: Change Healthcare is offering free credit monitoring after this year’s massive data breach (paywall link). A reported one in three Americans had their insurance info, Social Security number, health conditions and more leaked. The credit monitoring is through IDX. If you get anything else in the mail, it’s a scam. Just a reminder: If you haven’t frozen your credit yet, here are the steps.
ADT hides a major cyber hack
How secure is your home or business? ADT just revealed a data breach but is keeping quiet about the timing and details of what was stolen. Plus, the risks of storing cash in Cash App, AI classes for seniors, and a crucial Amazon Echo security setting you should check.
🚨 Wookie mistake: You’ve probably heard about the recent National Public Data breach, which exposed the deets of 2.9 billion people. Now, a sister site with access to the same consumer records as NPD accidentally published passwords in a publicly accessible file. Nutso. It was available until Aug. 19. If you haven’t yet, I strongly advise you to freeze your credit.
Lock your credit files immediately
Another huge data breach — 2.9 billion records exposed, including Social Security numbers. Here are the quick steps you need to take right now to protect yourself.
🚨 Spoiler: You’re on the list! See if your info was exposed in the NPD breach that hit 2.9 billion people. Go to Pentester and enter your name, state and date of birth. The crazy part? You can look up anyone on this site. I found Bill Gates!
ADT hides a major cyber hack
The home surveillance company revealed a data breach but is hiding the details. I’ll tell you why this should make you rethink who’s protecting your home.