Scams, Security and Over-Sharing: Controlling your information and staying safe online

Scams, Security and Over-Sharing: Controlling your information and staying safe online takes a clear-eyed look at the invisible choices we make every time we use a smartphone, check email, accept terms of service, or add another connected device to the home.

Jon White draws on 15 years working alongside cybersecurity specialists to turn real threats into readable, human stories. He doesn’t ask you to switch off, delete your accounts, or live off the grid. Instead, he helps you understand where risks actually sit — and which small changes can make a meaningful difference.

🔒 Part One: The Threats You Can’t Always Control

Early chapters walk through data breaches, compromised email accounts, password fatigue, social engineering, malicious apps, and the unsettling reality of computers that can be controlled by someone else. These aren’t distant hypotheticals; many are drawn from actual incidents, including some the author has personally encountered or researched.

📱 Part Two: The Information You Can Try to Control

The next section focuses on what we knowingly share online — location data, free service agreements, personal updates, and the blurred line between privacy and convenience. White unpacks why “I have nothing to hide” misses the point, and explains how everyday choices influence the data trail we leave behind.

🤖 Part Three: Contemporary Risks on Your Doorstep

Later chapters look at smart speakers, connected cars, the Internet of Things, illegal streaming, and the digital footprint of our professional and personal lives. These sections help readers recognise how trusted devices and habits can become unexpected entry points for security problems.

Useful Extras for Everyday Safety

The book closes with two practical appendices: a side-by-side look at scam emails versus legitimate messages, and a jargon buster that decodes common cybersecurity language. These are designed to help you act, not just worry.

Who Will Find This Useful?

If you manage a family’s online life, use social media, shop online, or simply want to become harder to trick, this ebook offers a grounded starting point. It is most suited to general readers and non-specialists rather than already-experienced security professionals.