Yes, they are all signs of the Armageddon and at least two of them are coming to a terminal near you! That’s right. In the very near future cell phone and laptops will be allowed in the friendly skies. In fact, he European Union on Monday opened the way for air travelers to use mobile phones to talk, text or send e-mails on planes throughout Europe’s airspace. Sounds like a perfect way to maximize time while in the air. However, I am not sure I want to be on the receiving end of the monthly bill for mid-air calling using GSM technology or be the one sitting next to Ms. Jabber Jaws as she talks about her vacation in Boca with her daughter-in-law and her good for nothing son. As it stands now the United States and other countries forbid the use of these devices during flight for fear it may interfere with the airplane’s instruments. I, personally, think this is a good thing. However, Delta did make a bit of an announcement today saying that during the next year they would be providing Wi-Fi for 330 planes (covering 1000 flights daily) when flying above 10,000 feet. I think I am not against Wi-Fi on planes but the cell phone situation just seems to toy with the tranquility that is sometimes offered during long-distance flights.
Should this come to pass though I fully expect for MinuteFix to be assisting with support issues from “somewhere about 20,000 feet over Singapore, I think.”
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A new report has been released stating that U.S. federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold them for unspecified periods.Under recently disclosed Department of Homeland Security policies, such seizures may be carried out without suspicion of wrongdoing. In fact, Federal Agents are even allowed to share the contents of seized computers with other agencies and private entities for data decryption and other reasons. Other than the typical “Big Brother” theories DHS officials say the policies applied to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens, and were needed to prevent terrorism.
In some sense I can certainly understand this. However, there is nothing in place stating how long your PC can be held, what information can and can’t be accessed and what would happen if your laptop or other device were to be harmed. It seems to be a black hole of the gov’t taking the place of the Geek Squad and looking all through your stuff in the name of security.
The policies also cover hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes — as well as books, pamphlets and other written materials.
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There is no doubt that each of us wonder and worry about the varying price of fuel. We think about it every payday, weekend and night. We each stand at the pump pouring dollars into that black hole we call a gas tank and think to ourselves, “there has to be cheaper gas somewhere.” Well, wonder no more. There are a host of blog buttons and small web codes out there that allow us to monitor gas prices right from our PC. Below I have featured just three that I found within five minutes.
If you know of any others or one that you specifically like, let us know. I mean, I am ALWAYS looking to save a penny a gallon!
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When it is time to purchase a new PC many of us are left wondering what to do with the old one. Some of us hold on to it “just in case.” Some of us pass it down in the family. Yet, some of us just throw it in a non-descript dumpster somewhere. But why? There are so many refurbishing locations available in every community to turn that technology back into something usable for those less fortunate than ourselves. In fact, you can access a huge database just by visiting this site on the TechSoup site.
But before you just take out a hunk of mechanical junk to be reused, allow me to offer some tips (courtesy of TechSoup).
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Determine if your old computer can be reused.
If you have a computer that is less then five years old, chances are that it can be put to good use by someone else. Rather than donate equipment directly to a charity or school, however, it is usually best for all involved if you can send it to a refurbisher, especially if you need to wipe your hard drive or are uncertain about the computer’s condition. Refurbishers will ensure that equipment they send to nonprofits and schools works well and runs legal copies of software, and that any e-waste is disposed of properly.
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Recycle old and broken hardware.
Any equipment that is not working or is more than five years old should be tagged for recycling, i.e. responsible destruction.
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Contact the refurbisher or recycler before donating.
Call the organization or check its Web site to ensure that it accepts the type of computer you plan to give away. Some refurbishing organizations, for example, will refuse anything older than a Pentium II. While you may be tempted to donate equipment directly to a favorite local school or charity, remember that refurbishers are generally better equipped to repair and upgrade computers. They will then pass on ready-to-use equipment to those who need it, often at little or no cost.
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Remember the accessories.
If you can, include the keyboard, mouse, printer, modem, packaged software, or any other accessories you use with the computer. Schools and nonprofits can almost always put them to good use, and most organizations only accept complete systems.
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If possible, keep the operating system intact.
If you are donating hardware with a preinstalled Microsoft operating system, keep in mind that the license is only valid when used with the machine on which it was originally installed. Since charitable organizations usually cannot afford to purchase and license new operating systems, a legal transfer (whereby the computer and operating system stay together) is always preferable. While Linux and Macintosh operating systems have different requirements, as a general rule, try to include the operating system software with all donated computers whenever possible.
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Provide the original software media and documentation.
To ensure that the software transfer is legal, pass along the original disks, media, Certificate of Authenticity sticker (usually on the computer), user manual, and other documentation that came with the equipment.
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If you clear your computer of personal information yourself, it’s best to use disk-cleaning software.
“Personal information” includes your Internet browser’s cache, cookies, history; your email contacts and messages; your documents; your recycle or trash folder; and all nontransferable software. The best way to clear this is with a disk-cleaning utility that overwrites all the sectors of your hard drives, making your data unrecoverable.
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Follow computer delivery instructions.
Many recycling and refurbishing organizations have specific locations where equipment can be donated, while others have delivery instructions they expect donors to follow.
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Keep a list of what you donated for your records.
Remember that tax season will always return — and you are likely eligible for a deduction if you donate to a nonprofit refurbisher. Most school or nonprofit refurbishers can provide a tax receipt upon request. Business donors can deduct the un-depreciated value of the computer, and individuals can deduct the current market value of a computer.
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Plan for future donations.
Rescue a box from the recycling bin and use it to store the documents that came with your new computer, so that when the time comes to donate it, you’ll have everything in one place.
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5. Purchase a 3rd party pop-up blocker. Out of all 5 solution, this is probably the best in terms of combination defense. It will stop pop-up advertising, stop spyware and erase web browsing tracks if used correctly. We recommend Pop-Up Stopper -or- STOPzilla.
- Pros: These 3rd-party anti-popup products effectively block popup ads. They also prevent/erase spyware and adware without having to install separate anti-spyware software. These software products have no advertising on screen.
- Cons: You can get the same functionality from many no-cost popup blockers and anti-spyware.
4. Your ISP likely offers a free 3rd party pop-up blocker. Ask them. Price! They are usually free. Many Internet Service Providers will often offer free software to stop pop-up advertising.
- Pros: Free; these products are often promotional versions of high-quality paid products like Popup Killer or AdsGone.
- Cons: Remember, “you get what you pay for.”
3. Install a Google or Yahoo anti-pop-up toolbar. This is a good and free choice if you are using Windows XP Service Pack 1. If not, search Google for their latest toolbar update. The pop-up blocker is generally packaged in the bar.
- Pros: Both the Google Toolbar and Yahoo Toolbar offer 98% effective pop-up blocking (according to their advertisement), and extra search engine functions all at once.
- Cons: As mentioned, these products have only partially-effective anti-spyware. You will still need to install your own additional 3rd-party anti-spyware software. Also, if you are concerned about digital conspiracies, Google Toolbar does report your web browsing habits back to its home servers in an attempt to do statistical market analysis.
2. Be sure to install XP Service Pack 2 and use the IE Pop-Up Blocker. For security reasons, you should have long since upgraded to Microsoft XP Service Pack 2. As you perhaps know, a “service pack” is really a patch that repairs deficiencies in the software . In this case, Microsoft created XP “SP2″ to patch several security leaks in both Windows and in the IE6 browser.
- Pros: XP SP2 not only plugs 99% of the security holes in your Microsoft computer, but it also adds in some excellent built-in popup blocking to your IE6 browser. The new Integrated IE popup blocker is a favorite amongst most IE users.
- Cons: Installation can cause you headaches if you are unprepared. Also, SP2 will pester you with overly-cautious security messages every 30 seconds until you disable them.
1. Switch to Firefox for your primary browser. This is our top suggestion for browsing the Web without pop-up advertising. The Mozilla Firefox browser not only has integrated popup blocking, but it is also a feature-rich tool for viewing web pages.
- Pros: Firefox browser blocks popups, adware, and cookies. It allows specific popups through, upon your command. Firefox also has outstanding general browsing features, like tabbed pages, slick bookmarking features, integrated Google searching, larger screen viewing than IE, faster page transfers, and better security than IE.
- Cons: About 2% of web pages will not render in Firefox, including ActiveX-intensive pages and some .asp pages.
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Today is July 23. That means that most school systems have roughly 5 weeks before that first Autumn bell rings. For many of us that means nothing. Our school days have given way to 9 hour work days, 30-minute lunch breaks, hour-long commutes, paid vacation (of 10 business days or less per year) and a future of middle management. But to students that means it is time to check out the latest, greatest batch of PCs; desktop and laptop.
2007 was the first year that laptops outdid desktops with 57% of computer purchases being for the former. The lives of todays tech generation is one that is constantly on the go and somehow lugging around a monitor, tower and peripheral devices just doesn’t seem attractive any longer. But how does one know what to buy? What will offer the biggest bang for the buck? What is a solid investment and what is junk that will have to be replaced by mid-terms? Allow me, if I may, suggest the seasons two best purchases - 1 Dell and 1 Apple.
Starting at $499 the Dell Inspiron 1525 is a solid computer. Not only can you choose the color you prefer (I would love to have an olive green laptop…just seems extra eco-friendly for some reason) but you can choose from a bevy of extra options. For this exercise though I want to make mention of the standard features.
- Intel® Celeron® 550 (2.0GHz, 533Mhz, 1M L2 Cache)
- Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Basic Edition
- Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280×800)
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
- Size: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
- CD Writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
- Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card
- No Webcam Option
- 6 cell battery
- High Definition Audio 2.0
- McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 30-Days
- Microsoft Works
- 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
- Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr
- 6 Months FREE EarthLink Internet Access
- Integrated 10/100 Network Card
- Integrated Modem
- Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
- Windows Vista™ Basic
- Intel#174; CELERON#174; Processor
For $500 more the stylish student can go for the Macbook by Apple which gives a bit more creative juice to the average computer platform. You can either purchase the PC in black or white and a barebones model boasts:
- MagSafe power port
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- Mini-DVI port
- FireWire 400 port (up to 400 Mbps)
- Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
- Audio line in
- Audio line out
- Kensington cable lock slot
- 2.1GHz or 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed
- 800MHz frontside bus
- 1GB (two 512MB SO-DIMMs) or 2GB (two 1GB SO-DIMMs) of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 4GB
- 120GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard disk drive; optional 160GB or 250GB 5400-rpm drive4
- 24x slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
- Built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi wireless networking2 (based on IEEE 802.11n draft specification); IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
- Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
- Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
- Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Photo Booth, Front Row, Xcode Developer Tools)
- iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand)
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EVDO is one of those technologies that finds its way into our lives and causes us to not be able to imagine life without it. Currently offered primarily by Verizon and Sprint, EVDO (Evolution Data Only/Evolution Data Optimized) is a technological gift that essentially allows you to be your own hot spot providing fast wireless broadband (3G) internet service directly to your laptop. In other words, you can take the internet with you and surf the web in your car, on the train, in the airport, at a convention, on the beach, etc.
One of the more popular forms of EVDO is found in the Verizon USB720 EV-DO USB wireless modem adapter. It is a nice little device and has received great reviews in the past year or so. I personally use one and have had great connections in places as remote as Death Valley, California as international as Paris, France and as mundane as Terminal B22 in Atlanta’s Hartsfielf Jackson Airport. In face, my folks who live in rural middle Georgia use their 720 for complete Internet access as an alternative to dial-up, sattelite, or no ‘net at all. They too have had great success….until recently.
This past Monday both my folks and I woke up to no ‘net connection. I was on the Carolina coast and she was at home in Georgia. We were receiving an error code: 913 generated by Verizon and their VZAccess Manager software. You can imagine at least my dissapointment. I quickly called Verizon for help in troubleshooting. Unfortunately, “Debra” was no help. She walked me through a reboot, a reinstall, another reboot…she even tried to have me download the latest update (had she forgotten my initial problem? I COULDN’T get on the web at all.). After about 45 minutes of tech support she told me my computer had a problem and I should take it to a technician. Only that would fix the issue. I simply was not satisfied. I went up to the public library and began searching forums and such to find this mysterious error code that perplexed even “Debra”.
My point in this post though is not to criticize Verizon and their tech support team. It is rather to point out that because “Debra” didn’t recognize the error code she immediately launched into the Tech Support Trifecta: reboot, reinstall, replace. Has this, in fact, become the only cost effective way of providing such support? I simply could not accept that my computer needed to be fixed and/or replaced. All of my hardware diagnostics were returning without error.
About an hour later I called Verizon back with a larger sense of urgency and much more verbal aggression. I felt as if the customer service had given up on me and was ready to just mask the problem and have me replace my computer. After asking to speak to someone a little higher up I finally found out that Verizon had indeed been experiencing some connection problems in the Southeast but was unable to release that information to the public as it was being fixed immediately. My question is this though…why didn’t they at least tell their techs there was some issues with the region and ‘net connectivity? How can quality customer support and Tech support be offered when the Technician is completely uninformed. I felt so bad for “Debra”. She was clueless and was operating on an issue that she simply had not been informed of.
This experience was eye opening for me. I realize now that communication between all tiers of Tech Support is essential and that at MinuteFix we are right on with humbling ourselves to actually solve some problems for our customers.
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4.5″ by 2.4″. 8 GB. 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display. 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi. 2.0 megapixel camera. That’s right. It’s the new iPhone 3G and we gave one away.
Last week MinuteFix strengthened our partnership with Skype. We brought in a small control group of testers to test out the technology, and to thank them for their involvement, we sponsored a contest. The offer was to win a 3G iPhone just for participating. With calls lasting up to 2 hours sometimes we saw a host of different tech issues ranging from a dropped laptop to a XP to Vista conversion. It was a challenging and wonderful week. So by now you are wondering, “Who won?” Luis Salazar did.
Luis, born in Ecuador and now living in Los Angeles is a 23-year old Office Depot employee who upon being told he was the winner uttered nothing more than “Oh, sh**….wow!”. When we asked him about his experience he added, “It was pretty good. I thought it was really good how MinuteFix figured out how to integrate a payment system with just doing a Skype call. Much simpler than sending a packaged download application or something like that or even having to chat questions back and forth. It was cool.”
We had to ask though, “Did you think you would actually win a phone just for testing something out?” “No, I mean I thought someone would win. You usually do these and you think, Oh someone else will win. But not me. I won’t win. So this is awesome. Feels really good. I got to help out and I won a sweet phone.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
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Most commonly used anti-virus software will give you the option of putting a suspected virus into quarantine or to delete it. We are often asked what the difference is; there seems to be a misunderstanding of the use of both.
Put simply, no antivirus software is perfect. Many generate false-positives (meaning that it might identify something as a threat when it is not one) and using quarantine is a way of mitigating these potential errors.
If you put a virus in quarantine, the virus is not removed from your computer, but instead it is put in a location where it cannot be accessed. In the event that this file is not malicious (for example it identifies a .exe file that runs one of your basic software) you have not removed it from your hard drive. If a program on your computer acts up after the quarantine, you might need to restore the files. If you delete the file, there is no turning back.
A smart practice to follow: when your anti-virus software detects a malign file, put it in quarantine. Make sure your computer is running as usual (give it a few weeks), then delete it.
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I just got this tech support story from one of our techs, Mark Oren. Thought I’d pass it on…
A helicopter was flying around above Seattle yesterday when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to steer to the airport.
The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter’s window. The pilot’s sign said “WHERE AM I?” in large letters.
People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said “YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER.”
The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the “YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER” sign helped determine their position.
The pilot responded “I knew that had to be the MICROSOFT building because, similar to their help-lines, they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer.”
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A trojan horse is one of those terms that makes us cringe. It is largely unknown as to what it does exactly, or where it comes from, but we know that such a thing on our computer, is probably not good. Trojan horses, like viruses, malware, spyware seem to fall under the “just let my antivirus deal with it” category.
If I may, for a brief minute, explain some background and go historical and technological, both at the same time: As the Greek legend goes, during the Trojan War, it has been said that the Greeks gave their foes, the Trojans, a big wooden horse as peace offering. But after the Trojans pulled the horse inside their city walls, Greek soldiers busted out of the horse’s belly and opened the city gates, allowing their fellow soldiers to pour in and capture Troy (Brad Pitt, apparently, somehow had something to do with all of this). A computer trojan horse, then, acts in a very similar way: by downloading an unknown program, an attacker can have access to the system by pretending something it is not, thus behaving like the famous horse of troy—allowing for an insider attack. Trojan horses can be delivered by opening a rouge email attachment for example, with a promise of something interesting or needed like a fake program upgrade; they are often delivered via email attachments or Internet software downloads and can cause significant damage to ones computer.
A more sophisticated form of delivering trojan horses, though, is the lesser-known “road apple.” A road apple is a real-world delivery mechanism of a trojan horse—a quite creative one, if I may. In a road apple (a nicer term for horse manure) attack, the attacker leaves an infected CD Rom or USB drive in a location easy to be found and with a label that would attract curiosity.
For example, an attacker might leave a USB drive in an elevator or bathroom of a large corporation with a label that reads “Executive Bonus Payments 2007″. The victim would then insert to the USB drive to their computer out of curiosity and alas, the trojan horse would be delivered.
I tried this technique here at MinuteFix (sans the trojan horse), to see if someone would fall. This is what my hidden camera discovered:
Read more about Road Apples from Wikipedia.
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While riding into Manhattan yesterday I was privy to a conversation between two, middle-aged, professional looking men who were talking about the frustration of dealing with outsourced Tech Support. The topic itself has become a hot one lately as several companies who originally switched to outsourcing to countries like India in an effort to reduce overheard are now frantically looking for domestic companies to provide support now in an effort to regain customer confidence and improve on customer service. Perhaps the conversation below is a familiar one?
Man on Train: Do you have a Dell?
Colleague: I do. I love it. Why?
Man on Train: I have one at home too and mine is pretty amazing. But I had to call their tech support last night because I got this strange email that I was pretty sure was SPAM but decided to call about just to be cautious. Seriously man, it was not a good experience. So, I call Dell Support and tell the guy on the other end that I got a fake Dell order confirmation from some d*#$ in Taiwan posing as someone from Dell and trying to get credit card information. Now, I knew it was going to be crazy so I had first gone to the website to report it. There was no way to do it though so I ended up calling. Anyway. So, tell the guy my problem and he says,
Agent: “Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Service Chat. My name is Shiva. How may I help you?”Man on Train: Now I had already told him my problem so I was already wondering why he wasn’t listening to me. Anyway. I spoke back, “I just received by e-mail a phony Dell order confirmation from a spammer. Would you like a copy of it? How should I send it in?”
Agent: “As I understand, you have received a confirmation mail. Correct?”
Man on Train: “Yes, and it’s not real. It is from a spammer from Taiwan, posing as Dell. Do you want a copy of it?”
Agent: “Sure, let me check what best can be done.”
Man on Train: “Thank you.”
Agent: “May I know if you have placed the order with Dell?”
Man on Train: “No, I have not. That’s how I know it is not genuine. It is not for a real order. It is from a spammer who is trying to get credit card account numbers by posing as Dell.”
Agent: “Sure, let me check.”
Agent: “I am sorry sir. I am from small and medium business for America, and do not have the excess to Taiwan order. Please get on our web site to get the number for customer care for Taiwan.”
Man on Train: “I’m sorry, but you are not understanding me. This is not a real order. It is an attempt by a criminal in Taiwan to pose as Dell to steal credit card numbers from customers in the United States.”
Agent: “Hope you understand why I am unable to help you and asking you to contact the Taiwan customer care department. I have excess to check only order numbers for America.”
Man on Train: “I don’t think the order number is genuine for Taiwan or for any other country. But thanks for your help. I will simply delete the false order confirmation.”
Agent: “I am really sorry for being helpless sir. Is there anything else I may help you with?”
Man on Train: “You’ve done enough.”
Agent: “Thank you for visiting Dell Small Business Customer Service online chat and allowing me the opportunity to assist you. Also, feel free to visit us again at support.dell.com.”
Agent: “Thank you and have a great day ahead. Bye!”
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A question has been posed for some time about the likelihood of Apple computers becoming infected by viruses. The issue has become even more relevant since Mac invited Intel to the table and started producing dual boot systems through programs like Parallels Desktop for Mac and Boot Camp. The question, itself, is simple enough. Do Macs get viruses?
In short, yes, it is possible for an Apple Macintosh to get a virus. However, the likelihood of an Apple Macintosh user getting a virus when compared to a Microsoft Windows user is little to none. In fact, many Apple Macintosh users (including myself) don’t even run an antivirus protection program.
Some of the reasons why Apple Macintosh computers do not have as many viruses as Microsoft Windows are:
- Newer Macintosh operating systems, such as the Mac OS X, is built on the Unixkernel, which is one of the oldest and most secure operating systems available.
- Microsoft Windows is used by a lot more users. Because more users use Microsoft Windows, it is a lot better of a target than Apple computers.
- Most of the virus writers are familiar with Microsoft Windows, and therefore are capable only of creating a virus for that platform.
- Many of the tools and scripts used to help users create viruses or other malware are most frequently designed for Microsoft Windows.
There is certainly no lack of virus protection programs for Macs.
Note: If you’re running a virtual PC on your Apple Macintosh, because it’s emulating Microsoft Windows, it can become infected with Windows viruses and you should be running an antivirus protection program on it such as Norton or Macafee. In addition a Mac can serve as a virus carrier, meaning that a virus could be stored on an Apple computer yet not infect it. But if that computer were to connect to a network or a user was to forward an infected e-mail to a Windows computer that could become infected.
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As technology evolves, and people become more sophisticated at using it, so the threat posed by computers and the internet. More and more, the real threat lies in social engineering, and not so much in technological attacks.
Phishing is one of the most common forms of modern security threats, causing people to unwillingly compromise their identity and privacy.
Here our top 10 ways in which you can reduce the risk of being phished:
1. Don’t ever click on a link in an email that comes from any financial institution. Banking is the most vital data you can lose, so it is the most common form of phishing. It is very easy to generate an email that spoofs the “from” address, and a logo and design can be made to look like communication coming from real companies. These emails are skillfully crafted and links can be “masked” to hide the true address. The security lock on a browser toolbar can also be falsified. A rule of thumb, is don’t ever answer to any financial institution email unless you are expecting it. When in doubt, pick up the phone and call.
These emails often warn of some dire consequences (eg: “Your account will be closed” or “There has been fraudulent activity”) and require some sort of immediate action. A good solution is always have bookmarks to the financial institutions you deal with, or always type the company’s web address directly in the address bar.
2. Consider having 2 levels of password security. As much as it would reduce your chances of being victimized, changing your top-level security password every three months for every website you use would just not give you any time to check your email. People often use a single password for everything we use to make it easier to remember, but we propose this: use the same password you already use, but add a variation to it. For example, if your password is city of birth (a no-no, more on this later), you could add the last 4 digits of your social security to the end. So, if you kansas is your password, add some extra security by adding those digits, for example, to kansas9876. Then, use this new variation (which will be very easy to remember) to any web service that may have sensitive information. These might be your email and your online bank and credit card accounts, for example. Now, you can use your standard password for everything on the net and not worry that your password can be potentially accessed by a teenager who runs one of your social favorite networks. Best of all, this keeps it simple you don’t have to remember more than one password.
3. Don’t use the password reminder feature in your browser to store your login information to your email or financial institution’s website. Remember that intruders can’t only access your computer over the Internet, but some may be lurking around you at a cafe or at the office. If you remain logged in, or save your access data in your browser, it makes finding your private data, a breeze. Which takes us to…
4. Always use the Windows password protection when logging into your computer (same applies to Mac). Share it with your family, spouse or co-workers if you need, but keep in mind that a computer can be stolen or lost. Especially if you use a laptop, you can safeguard all your information by keeping Windows locked down. It is nearly impossible to access Windows without the password, and this would guarantee that if your computer gets the five finger discount, that your data is lost, yes, but safe.
5. A very recent form of phishing can be found on some social networks is trying to phish for your email password. Disguising themselves as helping you “invite your friends” a social network might ask you enter your email address and password. Many users do, giving these networks access to your inbox. This is one of the reasons why you should use a secondary password for your email and financial websites. Don’t ever share that password.
6. For goodness sakes, don’t use your pet’s name, city of birth or your spouse’s first name. Your city of birth is also a common one too. Try to stay away from obvious passwords, these are the first things hackers might attempt. Try to think of something people don’t commonly know about you, like a place you’ve always wanted to go, the name of someone you admire, or your favorite restaurant. These are easy to remember, and hard to guess.
7. Be careful giving out information over the phone. With the advent of voice over IP, crooks are finding more creative ways of fooling people. Vishing (phishing over VoIP) commonly uses caller ID spoofing, where a caller can fake the origin of the call. For example, a criminal can spoof an outboud call, to seem like it is coming from your bank, or from a person who you know. Don’t give out your personal details to any in-coming caller. Dial back to the institution if you are suspicious.
8. Be careful about downloading any software from unknown sources. Trojan horses often lie inside software packages. Check the validity of the website before downloading. Google the company. If people are saying good things about it, it’s probably safe.
9. Consider security software to detect phishing sites. Haute Secure and McAfee’s free Site Advisor are the ones we recommend.
10. Lastly, use your common sense. Hackers and cyber thugs are people too. They think of obvious ways to abuse the system and most of these can be mitigated by using your common sense. If something seems urgent, or overly impressive, stop and take a second look.
We are giving out $10,000 to the first 10 people who read this post. If that’s you, please enter your bank account number and your password in the comments below. Got ya.
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Tonight Phil Gerbyshak and the MinuteFix Certified Technician community hosted Tuesday Open Comment night over at Liz Strauss’ blog, Successful Bloggers. About open comment night, in Liz’ words:
It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME. The rules are simple — be nice.
We had a great evening of hardware-talk, wireless support, Mac vs. Windows wars, thoughts on Windows Live Update, and even conversation about our Certified MinuteFix Technician Jenn, who was caught in the Florida fires. Over 300 comments were posted, many smiles were had and new friends were made.
Thank you, Liz, we had a great time.
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