In this article written by Brian X. Chen from the New York Times he discusses some of the potential ways in which mobile apps that you download to your phone may be collecting and using your personal data in ways you did not know.

One of the key takeaways is that there are ways in which to protect yourself and tools that can help you figure out which apps are collecting your data and how to remove their ability to do so.

In this article from the New York Times guidance is provided on how to protect people's own personal data from Ransomware attacks such as the Wannacry virus that has been circulating lately. Wikipedia describes ransomware as a type of malicious software that blocks access to data or threatens to publish it until a ransom is paid. Simple ransomware may lock the system in a way which is not difficult for a knowledgeable person to reverse. More advanced malware uses a technique called cryptoviral extortion, in which it encrypts the victim's files, making them inaccessible, and demands a ransom payment to decrypt them.^[