Silo is such a complicated show that even its showrunner gets confused sometimes. While filming the final seasons of the Apple TV sci-fi thriller, Graham Yost remembers two instances where he messed up details: once it was an actor who realized that a conversation they were about to shoot should’ve already taken place, the other involved the Japanese localization team pointing out that a subtitle didn’t match what was going on onscreen. In both instances, the problem was ultimately fixed, but Yost’s reaction was the same: “Oh shit, you’re right.”
Technology
How to protect your online privacy, security with VPN while using hotspot
Having a stable internet connection is vital in today’s always-online world. One way to stay connected while on the go is with a hotspot, which uses your cellphone’s cellular network to create its own Wi-Fi network that other devices can connect to.
However, hotspots aren’t the safest way to go online, and they suffer from the same risks that any public Wi-Fi connection does, such as data breaches or misuse by hackers and other nefarious actors.
Although there is an easy way to keep yourself protected when using a hotspot, though, and that’s by using a virtual private network or VPN. It adds an extra layer of security and can keep you safe online. If you do decide to create and use a personal hotspot, remember to always make sure it’s password-protected.
Now, we’ll take you through the benefits of using a VPN with a hotspot and show you step by step how to set up a VPN.
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Woman on a tablet using VPN (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What is a hotspot?
A hotspot refers to a physical location where wireless internet access is available, typically using Wi-Fi technology. It could be a public location like a cafe, airport, hotel or library that offers internet access to its customers or visitors.
Additionally, you can create personal hotspots using your smartphone or other devices, allowing you to share your cellular data connection with nearby devices, such as laptops or tablets, via Wi-Fi. This enables these devices to connect to the internet even when they’re outside the range of a traditional Wi-Fi network.
Hotspots are useful for providing internet connectivity on the go and are commonly used in situations where accessing Wi-Fi networks or wired connections is not possible or convenient.
What is a VPN?
A virtual private network, or VPN, is a technology that creates a secure and encrypted connection between a device, typically a smartphone or laptop and another network over the internet. Here’s how they work.
Encryption
When you use a VPN, all your internet traffic will be encrypted. This means that all data sent and received will be scrambled and protected from any prying eyes.
Routing
All traffic sent through a VPN is routed through a server that is operated by the VPN provider. This server acts as a middleman between your device and all of the websites or online services you access.
Disguising your Identity
By connecting to a VPN server, all of your internet activity will appear to originate from the VPN provider’s server location. For example, if the VPN provider hosts their server in a different country, your traffic will appear in that country, even if you are connecting to the VPN from the United States. This can help you bypass certain geolocation restrictions on websites to access content that might otherwise be unavailable in a specific region.
Privacy on Public Wi-Fi
When connected to a public Wi-Fi network, which is always risky, a VPN will shield your browsing activity from potential hackers and snoopers. Here are some mistakes to avoid if you have to use public Wi-Fi.
Person on a laptop using a VPN (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Choosing a VPN provider
Using a VPN with a mobile hotspot is a great way to keep yourself protected, as we’ve shown above. Fortunately, these days, there is a wide range of VPN providers. See my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices.
Luckily for users, setting up a VPN isn’t difficult at all. Once you’ve picked your provider, here’s what you will want to do next.
Install the VPN application
Once you’ve selected a VPN, you’ll want to install the application on your device. Always make sure you are downloading directly from the developer or a trusted intermediary such as the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Create an account
After you’ve installed your VPN application and opened it for the first time, it’s time to create your account. The majority of VPN services will require you to create a username and password with an email address.
Select server location
Now that you have an account, you can begin using your new VPN. The first step in any VPN application is to select your server location. While there are advantages to picking a location further away, such as bypassing geo-location locks on specific content, it’s best to pick a server location that’s close to you. This will allow you to experience the optimal speed while browsing securely with a VPN.
Laptop with Google search displayed (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Test the connection
After the initial application, you can launch your VPN application anytime you want to create a secure network. However, it’s important to note that if you want to use your phone to create a mobile hotspot, and you want to access the internet from that hotspot on your laptop, you will need to have the VPN installed and operating on both devices. This is because security protocols of both iOS and Android do not allow multiple devices to share the same VPN IP address.
This process is simpler than it may sound, simply install whichever VPN service you prefer on both devices, log into your account and select the same VPN server location for a faster and more stable connection on both devices. After that, you just need to make sure the connection is working. Once you have a VPN actively running on any mobile device, it will encrypt the data between the network and you, you just need to simply open a browser and make sure you have an internet connection.
If you are able to access the website, then congratulations! You now have a VPN protecting your mobile hotspot data.
MORE: HOW TO STOP SOMEONE FROM TRACK YOU ON YOUR PHONE
Kurt’s key takeaways
A VPN is a great way to keep yourself protected while browsing the internet on a hotspot. We’ve shown you how easy it is to set up a VPN with a mobile hotspot, and we recommend using a VPN anytime you are using a public network. There’s a wide range of VPN providers out there these days, so it’s a good idea to always do a bit of research beforehand. You’ll want to pay close attention to pricing, services offered and trusted reviews of any VPN service you plan on downloading.
Have you ever experienced any security issues or concerns while using public Wi-Fi networks, and if so, how do you think using a VPN could mitigate those risks? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
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Keeping everything straight is one of the big challenges of working on such a complex series, and as Silo enters into its final two seasons, the challenge has only increased. So it’s a good thing Yost has a team working alongside him looking for those mistakes. “It’s a lot to keep track of, but everyone is pitching in,” he says, “and I love this sense of collaboration.”
Season 3 of Silo starts streaming on July 3rd, and it expands the story’s scope quite a bit. The series follows the lives of the residents of a huge underground bunker hundreds of years in the future. The silo is home to 10,000 people who essentially live in a vertical city, one divided into layers that each have their own jobs and cultures, from the mines at the bottom to the government up top. The only way to navigate the silo is through a massive spiral staircase that goes from top to bottom, creating a very physical form of class division.
Initially it seemed the residents were the last remnants of humanity living in a postapocalyptic wasteland. But over the course of the first two seasons, it became clear that they lived in but one silo of many, each housing their own communities while isolated from the rest. Season 3 adds a new wrinkle: showing how the world came to be this way in the first place, a process that starts in a world that looks much like our own.
The season 3 premiere constantly jumps back and forth between the bleak future where we’ve spent the last two seasons and our present day, when the decisions were made that led to everyone being trapped inside of underground bunkers. Things are already complicated as the show picks up from last season — protagonist / silo mayor / reluctant revolutionary Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) has just become the first person to venture between silos and is now suffering from memory loss — and the multiple timelines only ratchets that up.
“It’s a lot of pieces you’re trying to put together.”
The cast of Silo all have different techniques for dealing with this challenge, which becomes even harder given that scenes are rarely shot in chronological order. For some, daily team meetings with directors can be an invaluable tool. “A lot of days, we’d start the day with story time, and the director would go through where we’re at, where we just came from, what happens next,” explains Alexandria Riley, who plays newly promoted authority figure Camille Sims in the show. “It’s already a complicated story anyway, but then when shooting out of order, you do get a bit foggy.” Ferguson notes that the hair-and-makeup team can be particularly helpful in tracking the story, as they need to be on top of things like scars and burns to maintain consistency. Every detail counts. “The little changes that you do have enormous ripple effects going forward,” she says.
“It’s a lot of pieces you’re trying to put together,” adds Common, who plays Camille’s husband Robert on the show. “It is our job to know where we are, but thank god we had support, too. There are times when I’d have to talk to Alex about something just to be reminded.” The two actors even had separate rehearsals together to make sure they had everything down.
Others took a different approach. Jessica Henwick, for instance, joined the main cast as the present-day investigative reporter Helen in season 3, and says that “I didn’t read any scenes except my own. Because I’m a fan of the show, I wanted to preserve that experience. I will watch season 3 as a fan and see what happens. I don’t know what happens except in our storyline.” (Henwick is such a fan that, soon after she was cast, she had a single goal in mind: “I went to the set and explored the stairs.”)
Image: Apple
One thing that doesn’t help much, however, is delving into the source material. Silo is based on a trilogy of books by author Hugh Howey; the first two seasons explored the first book, while the final two will wrap up the rest of the story. But much has changed in the adaptation as the TV show attempts to both make Juliette a more visible figure in the central part of the story and update some of the plotlines to reflect present day concerns like AI.
“I started reading the books and realized very quickly that that wasn’t going to help, because the books are so different,” explains Ashley Zukerman, who plays a congressman in the present day storyline. He says that keeping both the novels and the TV show in his mind at the same time wouldn’t be helpful and instead found “that reading the whole scripts and then finding a way to forget [what his character wouldn’t know] was useful.”
With two seasons to go, Silo is racing toward a conclusion as it attempts to wrap everything up. Yost says that four seasons was always the plan, so the process has been figuring out how to fit everything into a set number of episodes. But since the final two seasons were filmed back to back, it also means that the Silo team are done having to worry about keeping all of those complicated plotlines straight. And as much as she says she’ll miss the experience of working on the show, there is one thing Ferguson is excited to be done with beyond memorizing storylines.
“I fucking hated running up and down those stairs,” she says.
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You found the flight, booked a hotel, and gave them your name, passport details and everything else they asked for. At this point, most of us close the laptop and start counting down the days.
But nobody warns you that the moment you hit “confirm,” your trip stops being only yours. Just this spring, hundreds of thousands of travelers learned the hard way what happens when the personal details you share with those companies get out (and how easily they get out).
Some got a scam text quoting their real hotel and check-in date before they were even told their information had been stolen. If you’ve got a trip on the calendar, this is worth ten minutes.
TRAVEL MISTAKE PUTS PHONE, LAPTOP AND STREAMING ACCOUNTS AT RISK
A single summer travel booking can hand over your name, contact details, trip dates, payment information and even passport data. (Neil Godwin/Future via Getty Images)
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What a single booking hands over
A travel booking may look like a routine form, but it can collect enough personal details to map your trip and your life back home.
- Full name
- Home address
- Phone and email
- Travel dates
- Payment details
- Passport number
Individually, none of it feels alarming. Together, it’s a complete snapshot of who you are, where you live, and when you won’t be home. That is the kind of profile scammers dream of.
How scammers use that data
A criminal who knows your hotel, dates, and confirmation number can send a message that looks exactly like it’s from the hotel: “We couldn’t process your payment. Re-enter your card to hold your room.” It may not feel like a scam. It feels like a headache you want to clear up before your trip. It gets personal, too. If a scammer knows you’re traveling and knows your family, they can call an elderly parent (or you) with a “grandchild stranded abroad” emergency that lands because the timing and names check out.
Trusted travel companies can still expose your data
If your first thought is, “But I only book through trusted companies,” you are not alone.
So did everyone caught in the breaches below. If a single careless business were the problem, I’d just warn you to steer clear of it and call it a day. Unfortunately, it’s more of an industry problem. And the size of the company doesn’t protect you, because the weak point usually isn’t the company itself, but the chain of partners behind it. So you can do everything right and still have your details slip out through one hotel employee’s infected laptop.
Over the past year, the travel sector has been hit again and again.
- Booking.com (April 2026). The world’s largest travel platform warned that “unauthorized third parties” accessed reservation data: names, emails, phone numbers, and details like customers’ hotels, dates, and confirmation numbers. No financial data was taken, and the break-in came through hacked hotel staff. The chilling part: scammers sent travelers WhatsApp messages quoting their real booking details, some before the official breach notice even arrived.
- Amtrak (April 2026). A reported Amtrak data exposure involving more than 2.1 million customer accounts. The exposed information included names, email addresses, physical locations, and customer support records. That kind of data can make a fake “problem with your trip” email feel personal enough to click.
Scammers can use stolen reservation details to send fake hotel, airline or booking messages that look surprisingly real. (Felix Zahn/Photothek via Getty Images)
- Carnival (June 2026). Carnival confirmed a breach affecting nearly 6 million people after a social engineering attack on a single user account. Some exposed data may have included names, contact details, dates of birth and government-issued ID numbers. For cruise customers, that creates an opening for fake trip alerts, identity-verification scams and phishing messages that sound much more believable.
- KLM and Air France (August 2025). A third-party customer-service platform was breached, exposing names, contact details and frequent-flyer numbers, which is plenty of material for a convincing “there’s a problem with your flight” call.
GLOBAL SCAM CRACKDOWN LEADS TO 276 ARRESTS
Curious how exposed you already are? Run a free scan to see where your information is showing up online-results usually land within an hour. Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: CyberGuy.com.
How to protect yourself before your next trip
You don’t have to stop booking trips online, but you do need to make it harder for scammers to turn your travel details into a payday.
1) Verify every booking message directly
Treat every “problem with your booking” message as suspect, especially if it asks you to click a link, re-enter your card or confirm personal details. Instead, open the airline, hotel or booking site directly through your browser or app. You can also call the company using the number on its official website, not the number in the message.
2) Use a credit card or virtual card when possible
A credit card usually gives you stronger fraud protection than a debit card. If your bank offers virtual card numbers, use one for hotel and travel bookings. That way, if the card number gets exposed, you can shut it down without replacing your main card.
3) Turn on travel account alerts
Before you leave, turn on transaction alerts for the card you use to book travel. Also check the security settings on your airline, hotel and booking accounts. Use a password manager to create and store strong, unique passwords for each account. Strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA) can make it much harder for someone to break in, even if your email address or phone number leaks.
4) Don’t store your passport or card in travel apps
Saving your passport, ID or payment card may save a few seconds next time. But if that account gets compromised, those details become part of the damage. After your trip, remove stored passport information, old cards and any documents you no longer need in the account.
5) Set a family code word
A word only your family knows can stop the “stranded grandchild” or “relative in trouble” scam fast. If someone calls claiming there’s an emergency, ask for the code word before you react, send money or share information. That tiny pause can save your family from a very expensive mistake.
6) Shrink your data-broker footprint with Incogni
A travel breach becomes more dangerous when scammers can match it with your home address, relatives, phone numbers and other personal details sitting on data-broker sites. That extra information can help them make a fake hotel message, family emergency call or identity scam feel much more convincing.
You can try to remove your information yourself, but the process can be frustrating. There are hundreds of data brokers and people-search sites, and each one may have its own opt-out process. Even worse, your information can show up again later.
A data removal service can help by sending removal requests on your behalf and checking whether your information reappears. It will not erase every trace of you from the internet, but it can shrink the amount of personal information scammers can easily find and connect to your travel plans.
Shrinking your online data footprint before you travel can make it harder for criminals to connect your trip details to your home and family. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Every travel booking bundles your name, address, trip dates and contact details into one valuable package. Once that information moves through hotels, airlines, booking platforms and outside vendors, it may not stay where you think it does. That is why stolen reservation details are so dangerous. Scammers can use them to impersonate your hotel, send fake payment alerts or target your family while you are away. Book the trip and pack your bags. Just verify messages directly, use a password manager, turn on account alerts and shrink the personal data brokers keep on you.
What extra step do you take before traveling to keep your personal information out of scammers’ hands? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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Apple is working on a “revamped” version of its entry-level MacBook Pro that it could launch as soon as the first half of 2027, Bloomberg reports. The company is also testing four new iPad Pros that are set to launch in the spring with a focus on “internal improvements.”
The updated MacBook Pro, which will keep the 14-inch screen size, will have a design that’s “in line” with what Apple is planning for the touch screen MacBooks it also has in the works, Bloomberg says. Those new touch screen laptops are set to be released between “the end of this year and early next year,” and Bloomberg has previously reported that they will get a Dynamic Island-like pill at the top of the screen.
Apple last updated the base MacBook Pro in October with an M5 chip bump. The company is working on an M6 processor, and Bloomberg says that Apple “finished work months ago” a different base MacBook Pro upgrade that keeps the laptop’s present design and is scheduled to launch this year. Apple will quickly move to the M7 line in 2027, including new Pro and Max chips, Bloomberg previously reported.
As for the iPad Pros, Bloomberg says that they’ll retain 11-inch and 13-inch screens. Apple last updated the iPad Pro line last October with the M5 chip.
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