This online security post is presented by Dashlane.

Remember the “Nigerian prince” who famously emailed financial requests far and wide more than a decade ago? It was a variant of the advance-fee scam, aka The Spanish Prisoner scam. Even just last year, Americans lost $700,000 to such schemes, according to security firm ADT. And it all comes to mind again with recent news of outlandish online scams originating from the same country. But how do these people manage to keep getting away with people’s money, information and identities? It makes you wonder how to protect yourself from online scammers.

This Mac utility post is presented by CoreCode, maker of MacUpdater.

Keeping all your installed apps up to date can be time-consuming and annoying, unless you’re that one person who manages to never use any apps, or that other person who exclusively downloads them from the Mac App Store. But if you’re a typical user, MacUpdater is the easiest way to keep your Mac apps up to date effortlessly, no matter how many you have or, to some extent, where you got them.

This Mac productivity apps post is presented by Dashlane.

Productivity apps for Mac are ubiquitous. There are so many of them, you can burn up a lot of productivity while you spend hours searching for the best ones. That’s why articles like this one prove so useful. They help you quickly identify a few key apps worth considering.

This online security post is presented by Dashlane.

Ocean’s 11-style capers, whether in movies or in the real world, are a lot more colorful than the typical online heist. But they are usually a lot less lucrative than real-life cybercrimes. The top online thefts in recent history netted copious amounts of cash or financial data. And despite increasing sophistication, hackers sitting at their keyboards often have a considerably easier time of it than George Clooney’s all-star cast of super-grifters did in the movie.

If the top five online heists described below don’t make you feel the acute need to review your own personal online financial security, they should.

This iPhone manager post is presented by iMobie, maker of AnyTrans.

The AnyTrans iPhone manager app by iMobie helps users easily transfer, manage and back up content on their devices from one place. iMobie’s recent release of version 8, supported by iOS 13, cuts down on the hassle factor further by improving functionality in various ways and adding new features. If you wince at the thought of moving files to and from your iPhone using iTunes, you might find AnyTrans a user-friendly alternative.

This OS updates and security post is presented by Jamf Now.

Apple’s new operating systems, macOS Catalina and iOS 13, bring innovative capabilities to organizations using them. A streamlined approach to Apple upgrades ensures security measures are met, an accurate systems inventory is maintained and downtime is eliminated. Mobile device management products like Jamf Now help simplify the upgrade process and maintain security of employees’ devices by keeping them up to date.

This personal finance app post is presented by Dashlane.

Is this the year you pledged to get your financial life in order like a properly functioning adult? If so, there’s still time. Or, you can start laying the groundwork for a 2020 New Year’s resolution that will stick. Whether you need help saving, budgeting, paying bills, tracking expenses, investing or all of the above, there’s a free personal finance Mac app for that. Some of our favorites are below. And you can use any or all of them more securely, keeping sensitive financial data and logins safe, if you try them in concert with Dashlane, the official password manager of Cult of Mac.

This post on VPNs for Mac is brought to you by VPNOverview.

Many advanced Windows users have been using VPNs for various reasons for years. However, not many people are aware that VPNs can be just as beneficial for Mac owners. There is a misconception that Macs do not get viruses, and that you are completely safe browsing the web if you do it on a Mac. Apple products are better at defending against attack — and are less frequently targeted by malware. But that does not mean VPNs aren’t useful for Apple computers. In fact, VPNs for Mac are just as effective as they are for Windows systems.

This VoIP communications post is presented by Zadarma.

Cloud communications platform Zadarma recently released an updated iOS version of its app that offers businesses easy access to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications internationally. Plus, it solves one of modern life’s most annoying problems: keeping business and personal calls and text messages separate.

This password sharing post is presented by Dashlane.

Let’s say you just got Netflix (again) and you want to share the password with your partner and kids so they can watch whatever it is they watch. Folks share like that every day with streaming apps, news sites and other online services. But how it’s done matters. Every time you text or email information like that, it can be visible as plain text to others somewhere. But sharing via a password manager like Dashlane keeps sensitive information safe. The Dashlane Sharing Center is easy to use and encrypts data before it goes to another user.