Posts Filed Under “Software”
10-18-09 | Katie | No Comments
When it comes to the online world questions can be a great way to get to know someone. The question is, how do you know when a question is casual and when it is fishing for information? Well today we are going to look at some common questions.
Safe: Where do you come from?
Unsafe: What is your address?
Safe: What do (or did) you study in school?
Unsafe: Where do (did) you go to school and when is (was) graduation?
Basically the guideline is whether you are giving out personal information or just general inquiry. Keep your guard up and things will be ok.
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09-22-09 | Katie | No Comments
If you have decided to buy lock out software for your laptop, then you need to look for a few key features in order to keep your system truly safe. Here are some general guidelines one what to look for in your laptop locking software.
1. Will the software allow for lengthy or complex passwords? A system that only allows for a 6 or 8 didget password will be easy to crack for any professional.
2. Will it allow passwords with nonstandard letters? 2#@&686 is way harder to crack then 2327686. This may not always be possible, but it is a good thing to look for in your software.
3. Does it have a bypass? You want the answer here to be NO. If you can bypass it with the manual, or instructions found online then you may not even have lockout software to beging with, anyone who wants in will just bypass.
There you have it, three non-brand specific criteria for choosing laptop lockout software. Happy shopping.
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08-7-09 | Katie | No Comments
Your cell phone is a great communications hub especially if it is an iPhone. You can call, email, check your bank account online, access Paypal. Oh wait. That sounds like a security nightmare. How do you keep your data safe on your iPhone?
Keeper Password & Data Vault
Cost: Free
This app will 128 bit encrypt data like stored passwords to keep them safe from prying eyes.
Security Alarm System
Cost: 99 cents
This app sets off an annoying alarm if anyone pick it up without deactivating.
iSecurity: Find My Phone
Cost: 1.99
Anytime an incorrect password is entered, like by a thief this app will send you an email. Great for recovery.
It’s not bullet proof, but nothing with a mobile device is. They can help to mitigate your risk.
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07-26-09 | Katie | No Comments
Warning Symbol
Viruses are a great way for someone to steal your identity, and your online banking log in. If you own virus, software, you may feel safe, but without regular updates that software can not function at maximum efficiency.
You know that you need to update, but the question is how often? Security experts abound with different opinions. Everywhere from once a week to once fiscal quarter. How should you choose who to listen to?
Well, you can always do a complete analysis of their credentials or you could just look at who their audience is. A site for business will give advice for admins where you need home based advice.
On the average once a month will do fine for most home users.
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05-2-09 | Katie | No Comments
Warning Symbol
Did you ever have a friend of a friend email you? What about IM? Technology has given us all a great way to meet new people. It has also given scammers a great way to get your information. Just look at this conversation:
SaraSlane84: Hi!
TinMan: Hi?
S: It’s Sara, Maries friend. We met a few weeks ago at that party.
T: Oh yeah. How are you?
S: Great! You?
T: Good. Just got in.
S: Go anywhere fun?
T: Just the movies.
S: You must have a lot of options.
T: Huh.
S: You live in LA, don’t you?
T: No, Brentwood.
S: Oh, sorry. Details are a bit fuzzy. Over tired from job searching all night.
T: Know how you feel. It’s hard to get work even in sales.
S: What do you sell?
T: Pharmaceuticals.
S: Does that mean you have to talk to doctors all day? Must be so intimidating. You must know a lot about medicine.
T: Not really, but I took a few chem. Classes when I was at Brown. That was enough I guess.
Seems innocuous enough, but in the course of that conversation Tim gave out a whole lot of information, while Sara gave almost none. Without hesitation Tim told us:
- The town he lives in.
- What his job is/ and the industry.
- Where he went to college.
It may not seem like much but a person interested in using this to steal your identity could use it as a spring board to get your address and phone number after a few more conversations, and some more innocuous details (like your employers name and your age). That person is ready to take out a credit card in your name.
The moral of the story: Know who you are talking to, or keep it to generic topics.
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04-29-09 | Katie | No Comments
This or That
When it comes to the behaviors that can prevent identity theft and privacy breeches this sentence is all to common. Most of us have been to the training class or read the website that gave us the basics. Don’t open attachments from email senders you don’t know, don’t download files, don’t give out information over the phone, always type in the urls of your online banking sites. It is a familiar routine. Why don’t we do those things? The answer is simple, because we are lazy, and changing habits is hard.
That is why today we are going to look at some of those common mistakes and solutions that even the laziest of web browsers can implement.
Issue: Typing in your banks Url’s…
Solution: Type them in once and bookmark them. Once you do this you can simply click on the name.
Issue: Remembering a truly random password, or several, is hard.
This is where a basic knowledge of chess pays off. The knight in chess moves forward one and over two. You can do the same thing to make a random password. Choose a letter and move in this pattern for a per specified number of digit’s (say, 8) and then add a set of significant set of digits. Then all you have to remember is the letter, and the digits. S29 isn’t so hard to remember.
Paying bills when the company calls is simpler.
Get the numbers for the 1-800 services that you call from the toll free 411 service and program them into your phone. When you get a call simply tell them you will call right back. Then call back, and you can be sure you are talking to the right people.
See, there is always a way to be safe without having to make things too complex.
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04-27-09 | Katie | No Comments
Facebook Mat
When you sign up for a social networking site you are probably thinking about hooking up with old friends, not about your privacy. The thing is that you need to worry about it, because the companies who run these sites may share your information. Even if they do not share, on some sites can simply make that information available by way of any search engine. Depending on what information that you give out the results can range from mere annoyance to outright theft of your private information. So how do you decide how much information to put on a social networking site.
1. Figure out how much information is displayed on the public profile that anyone who finds you on a search engine or for people who are not on your friends list.
2. Get access, if you can, to an existing account and find out how much information is shown. You may not want your co-workers to see your home address.
These are your two primary areas of voluntary information dispersal. Your next job is to read over the terms of service (TOS) on the site. Look for both conspicuous language about sharing information with select partners’ and less obvious phrases like, “Reserved rights to user data transfers”. This usually means marketing, but should give you pause. Those terms are broad enough to encompass anything.
Information you should never post:
* Full home address
* Social security number
* Bank names or account types/numbers
* Earnings or debts
* Professional license numbers
There it is, your brief guide to what (and what not) to put on social networking sites.
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