The people behind the briefings

Departmentofinternetsecurity is written by a small content team that cares more about whether you can follow the advice than whether it sounds impressive.

Our briefings are published under a disclosed editorial pen name, Alex Mercer. We use one consistent byline so readers know what voice and standards to expect, and we say so openly rather than inventing a personal backstory. What you can hold us to is the work: sources you can check, steps you can actually follow, and corrections when we get something wrong.

Every piece goes through the same process. We start from a real threat people are running into, check the facts against primary sources like the FTC, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and national regulators, and cut anything that reads like a technical lecture. If a step needs a professional, whether that's your bank, a lawyer or an IT specialist, the article says so plainly.

Want to suggest a topic or flag a correction? The contact page reaches the editors directly.