• Hackers and scammers are getting more sophisticated in their methods.
• Elaborate social engineering schemes and AI are some ways that scammers are upping their game.
• One cybersecurity expert explained four ways to protect yourself going into 2025.

The end-of-2024 hack of US Treasury Department computers is a reminder that if the government isn't immune to tech trouble, neither are you. So, keeping your online accounts and information secure matters.

While state-backed hackers like the ones suspected of tapping into the Treasury's computers are sophisticated, there are still threats from small-time cybercriminals, Etay Maor, chief security strategist at Cato Networks, told Business Insider.

Still, individuals can use various tactics to avoid hackers and scammers gaining access to their information. Many have been around for years, but recent developments, such as the rise of generative artificial intelligence, call for new strategies, Maor said.

"It's a pain to remember another password or to enable another application to send you an SMS," Maor said. But, he added, "It'll help you not be the lower-hanging fruit" for those smaller hackers.

Here are four tips for enhancing cybersecurity and avoiding hackers and digital scammers going into 2025.

Use strong passwords — and have a secure place to keep track of them

Using the same password repeatedly for different accounts makes a scammer's job easier, Maor said.

Instead, he pointed to some long-standing advice: Create a separate password for each account, and make each one "strong" — usually, at least several characters long, with a variety of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, and without common words or sequences like "123456".

But keeping track of all those passwords can be tough. Maor said he has a pattern that he uses to create new passwords. It's mostly secure, though he said that hackers might be able to figure out his pattern if they got enough of his passwords. There is also password-keeping software, but bad actors can hack those, too.

Perhaps a more secure option is a low-tech one, he said. "For me, writing them down on a piece of paper is much more secure than having the same password everywhere," Maor said. Just make sure you don't leave it lying around in plain sight.

Be aware of social engineering scams

Some scammers don't use AI but instead rely on their own communication and relationship-building skills to steal money or information.

Basic versions of this scam can include direct messages from people on Facebook or other social media apps who try to befriend you before asking for money or personal information, Maor said.

Others are more sophisticated, he added.

"If I'm now an attacker and I want to attack your boss, I might connect with you on LinkedIn, and then I'll try to connect with your boss," he said. That will create a mutual connection that could make the hacker appear more credible to the boss, Maor said.

Avoid AI-based scams by making a plan with family and friends

Some scammers use AI voice generators to create convincing clips of people saying they're in trouble and need money. The scammers then call the subject's friends and relatives and use the AI-generated voice to rip them off.

Maor said he already has a plan to avoid such scams with his family: They have agreed on a "secret word" they can ask for if they get a request they suspect might be AI-generated.

"It's not something very common," Maor said of the word his family picked. "And I think we shouldn't be afraid to do that in our corporate environment and in a private environment as well, just to confirm."

AI has also made phishing scams, which typically involve scammers sending emails that look like they're from a reputable source in order to get personal information about the recipient, more convincing.

Most guidance for avoiding phishing scams suggests looking for obvious typos in emails to identify potential phishing scams, Maor said. But scammers can now use AI to create grammatically passable messages in any language they need, he added.

Make sure to use two-factor authentication

While it's been around for years, two-factor authentication — that is, asking a website or app to send you a code via email, text, or call that you must enter in addition to your password to log in — remains a good way to protect unauthorized people from accessing your accounts, Maor said.

It's also possible to use an authenticator app like Duo or Microsoft Authenticator to sign off on login attempts or a physical security key, which, when used near the computer, confirms that it's really you trying to log in, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

US government authorities are reportedly investigating whether to ban TP-Link wireless routers, which have been targeted in some high-profile attacks linked to the Chinese government. TP-Link, which was founded in China in 1996 and said it relocated its headquarters to the US in October this year, has racked up significant market share in US homes and businesses.

US authorities are investigating whether TP-Link "poses a national-security risk and are considering banning the devices," The Wall Street Journal reported today. The WSJ notes that TP-Link is "the top choice on Amazon.com, and powers Internet communications for the Defense Department and other federal government agencies."

The WSJ wrote:

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• Kayla Barnes-Lentz spends much of her day optimizing her health to try to live to 150.
• She also runs her own business, so has to fit her biohacking around her busy workday.
• She has a 2 ½ hour morning routine, takes regular biohacking breaks, and goes to bed by 8:30 p.m.

From the second Kayla Barnes-Lentz wakes up, her day is built around enhancing her health.

Barnes-Lentz, 33, told Business Insider that her extensive biohacking routine has helped her to reverse her biological age by 11 years. Biological age is a measure of how healthy a person's cells and organs are, but scientists don't agree on the definition.

As a coowner of a longevity clinic in Cleveland and the host of a podcast about health optimization, she counts this routine as part of her work.

"During work, I have my office optimized for optimal productivity, and I incorporate health optimization practices throughout the day," she said.

Barnes-Lentz's habits aren't all scientifically proven. But she and other biohackers, such as the millionaire entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, take a chance on experimental treatments to live as long as possible. Barnes-Lentz wants to reach 150, while Johnson's mantra is "don't die."

She's inspired by naturopathic medicine, which she said involves "new age tech." Barnes-Lentz and the team at her clinic use scientific literature to "guide" what she describes as her "health protocols." She said she has also hired female Ph.D. candidates to "dive into the literature" around women's health and longevity to inform her female-focused protocols, which she sells as part of a membership program.

Medical experts say that for the average person, getting the basics right can make a big difference in how long they live. A study published last year found that a healthy diet could increase lifespan by up to 10 years, and Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist at Mayo Clinic, previously told BI that spending just 3% of your day exercising can contribute to healthy aging.

Barnes-Lentz shared how she fits biohacking around running her business.

Before work, she spends 2 ½ hours biohacking

Barnes-Lentz's morning routine takes about 2 ½ hours. She starts with what she describes as an "oral protocol," which includes tongue scraping, water flossing, and oil pulling. Tongue scraping and flossing are commonly recognized as effective ways to reduce bacteria and plaque in the mouth. But there's not enough evidence that oil pulling, an Ayurvedic practice that involves swishing oil around the mouth, is beneficial enough for oral health to be recommended by the American Dental Association.

She also does her first round of pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, a noninvasive treatment in which bursts of electric currents are sent through soft tissue across the body.

"I think of our body as a battery, and PEMF can increase your charge," she said.

Some research suggests that PEMF could be useful in treating osteoarthritis and bone fractures, but more evidence is needed to draw a connection, said the authors of a 2023 review of research published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Barnes-Lentz also works out, gets some sun exposure to regulate her circadian rhythm, spends time in a sauna, showers, and measures her biometrics (body composition, grip strength, lung health, and blood pressure) before breakfast.

She does red-light therapy while working

Barnes-Lentz works from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days, running her longevity business, podcast, and social media accounts, including her Instagram account, which has 383,000 followers. She tries to do 10,000 steps a day and move her body as much as possible.

To do that, she takes calls while walking and takes breaks every 90 minutes to walk or do what she considers a biohack, such as standing on a whole-body vibration plate.

Even when she does desk-based work, she said she's biohacking. This involves sitting on a "biohacking desk chair," which encourages good posture, and wearing a red-light therapy cap to help her hair grow faster and thicker. Red-light therapy has been found to help with hair regrowth and build thickness and length in some large randomized trials, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

In her office, she has an air-filtration system and uses natural light instead of LEDs to avoid interrupting her circadian rhythm. In a 2023 report published in the journal Frontiers in Photonics, researchers found that blue light from LEDs can disrupt sleep when people are repetitively exposed to it for prolonged periods at night.

Barnes-Lentz also inhales humid air using a NanoVi machine —which is advertised as a way to repair proteins in the body damaged by oxidative stress — to improve her cognition and brain health. Research suggests that oxidative stress, which is caused by factors including sunlight, alcohol, and certain medications, plays a role in aging and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

A small 2022 study published in the International Journal of Molecular Science suggested that the NanoVi could help improve cellular health and cognition in older people. The study involved four people with cognitive impairment who used a NanoVi over 12 weeks, so more research is needed.

A cold plunge at lunchtime

"My midday routine consists of a whole body vibration plate and cold plunge, which gives me a natural increase in energy, followed by a hyperbaric chamber session," Barnes-Lentz said.

She does five, hourlong sessions in a hyperbaric chamber each week, using the time to catch up on messages on her phone. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers contain a pure, pressurized form of the gas to increase its absorption in the body. They are used to treat conditions including burns, wounds, skin and bone infections, and hearing and vision loss. Small studies have found that they might have anti-aging benefits, too, although the FDA hasn't approved them for this use.

After work, she goes for a walk and optimizes her sleep schedule

Barnes-Lentz and her husband eat dinner at around 5 p.m., more than three hours before they go to bed at 8:30 p.m., to help them sleep.

She knows that a varied diet is good for the gut microbiome, so she has different organic, seasonal vegetables and fruits delivered each week. The structure of her meals is always the same: vegetables, high-quality proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates that don't spike her blood sugar too much, she said.

After dinner, the couple walks for 50 minutes in the hills around their Los Angeles home to aid digestion, catch up on their days, and get in more zone-two cardio.

"Then, we begin our wind-down routine, which may involve more PEMF or relaxing together. At sunset, we ensure that the house is only red light to promote the release of melatonin," she said.

Some studies have found that using artificial red light at night can improve sleep quality, but a 2023 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry found no evidence that red light increases melatonin secretion and, in some cases, can increase alertness.

"I've worked really hard to build the life that I have," Barnes-Lentz said. "I'm incredibly blessed and very fortunate that I get to move my body and get to do all these things. And I'm excited to see what that's going to lead to in the future."

Correction: December 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misrepresented Barnes-Lentz's naturopathic approach to medicine. It involves "new age tech," not herbs and massage.

Bryan Johnson spends $2 million a year on longevity treatments. We spent a day with the tech entrepreneur who wants to live forever, getting a close-up look at his antiaging meals, supplements, clinical procedures, and daily exercise routine.

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U.S. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden announced a new draft bill with the goal of securing American telephone networks and Americans’ communications in response to the massive hack of telecom providers allegedly done by Chinese government hackers.  In a press release on Tuesday, Wyden announced the Secure American Communications Act. The bill would order the Federal […]

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Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) said in a report published over the weekend that a hacking group has been targeting the country’s defense and military companies with phishing attacks.  The CERT identified the hacking group as UAC-0185 — also known as UNC4221 — without saying who was behind the group. Earlier this year, however, […]

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A US government security official urged Americans to use encrypted messaging as major telecom companies struggle to evict Chinese hackers from their networks. The attack has been attributed to a Chinese hacking group called Salt Typhoon.

There have been reports since early October that Chinese government hackers penetrated the networks of telecoms and may have gained access to systems used for court-authorized wiretaps of communications networks. Impacted telcos reportedly include Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Lumen (also known as CenturyLink).

T-Mobile has said its own network wasn't hacked but that it severed a connection it had to a different provider whose network was hacked. Lumen has said it has no evidence that customer data on its network was accessed.

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