April 8, 2010

Open your eyes when surfing the internet!

Filed under: E-mail, Online Safety, Viruses, Wireless Internet — Tags: computer, computer expert, computer security, computers, cybercrime, Internet, minneapolis, minneapolis minnesota, minneapolis mn, minnesota, open wifi, security, spam e-mail, spam emails, spyware, surfing the internet, surfing the net, virus, Viruses, WiFi — admin @ 2:57 pm

Would you cross the roads with your eyes shut?  Open your eyes when surfing the internet!

Reading the Star Tribune on Sunday, we learned that Minneapolis is now ranked the seventh-riskiest city in America for cybercrime!!  Eeek, now that is hitting a little close to home.  Every day we are hearing or seeing in the news something about a new virus attack or online threat to our computers.  It’s not like all the computers in Minneapolis are going to grow legs and arms to strangle us.

The Minneapolis area does have one of the highest populations of in-home computers and computer users in the nation.  Minneapolis is growing to become known as a very internet savvy city.  Due to this, we are more likely to encounter spyware, spam emails and other viruses.

Keep yourself safe by never fully opening an email, use a preview window to read your messages  (both entourage and outlook allow you to do this), do not log into confidential sites when you are on an open wifi network unless it is secure, and make sure you know what you are downloading before you hit ok.  It’s just like you’re a kid again and your mother is teaching you how to cross the road. Look both ways to ensure that there are not any viruses coming before you begin to access the site and keep looking both ways as you access the site to make sure a virus doesn’t pop up out of nowhere.  If you are nervous or have questions, ask a computer expert. We’re here to help and answer questions.

March 31, 2010

Picking Better Passwords Is Key to Security

Filed under: Internet, Online Safety, Passwords — Tags: choosing a password, computer, computer security, computers, online security, password, password security, password use, Passwords, security, security expert, security experts, symantec, symantec report, symantec survey — admin @ 10:31 am

Security firm Symantec heard from 400 customers in a just-completed survey about password use.

Turns out far fewer of them (a mere 3%) admit to using the old favorite ‘password’ for their password.  The name of a pet is the top category of passwords in the survey, with 10% of respondents reporting that they tap in ‘Tigger’ or somesuch name when logging into secure accounts.

Security experts frown on using the name of a pet, a significant other, a child’s name, a middle name or a birth date when choosing a password. All of these passwords could be ascertained from information readily available or easily guessed, especially with the information now available on social networking sites.

Choosing and using effective passwords is considered an efficient and effective way to keep your online accounts secure and lower your risk with online scammers.

A whopping 59% of those who responded to the Symantec survey reported that they relied on their memory for recalling a password.

Here are some suggestions on how to choose passwords that will be memory-stickers for you, but will be tricky enough to thwart a thief:

• A longer password is more secure than a shorter one
• Alter passwords with numbers or symbols at the beginning or end
• Mix up letters and numbers. Toss in punctuation symbols as well. For example, if “Billie Jean” has always been your favorite song, replace each ‘e’ with a number, and toss in an exclamation point at the end, so now you have Billi9J9an! which is both memorable and difficult to crack.

You can view the full responses to the Symantec survey.

February 22, 2010

Protect Yourself Another “Big Brother” Could Be Watching!

Filed under: Google, Internet, Online Safety — Tags: big brother, computers, facebook, facebook profiles, george orwell, identity theft, keep yourself safe, online privacy, Online Safety — admin @ 8:28 am

In his ominous novel “1984,” George Orwell imagined an overarching government (“Big Borther”) that collected data about everyone, with no detail too small to track.

Today, you may have more to fear from yourself than from any vast bureaucracy. You may be giving away some of your own vital secrets to anyone who has access to your Facebook profile.

Most people with FaceBook profiles post their birthdays, and enjoy getting special wishes on their special day.

But identity thieves know that many of us use all or part of our birthdates as passwords or as personal identification codes. When numbers that should be guarded are given out freely, it can be dangerous.

Your Facebook profile may also include your nickname or the names of your children or pets, which are also popular categories for passwords. Perhaps your mother, complete with her birth name, is one of your Facebook friends. Ascertaining that information could allow a cyberthief to have a crack at that popular security question about “mother’s maiden name.”

Increasingly, people use FaceBook for business and networking purposes; for them it is impractical to suggest that they deny “friend” status to someone who may be unknown. That friend request could represent a lead as a new customer or client. Creating a list with different privacy settings for different groups of your connections is another way to control who sees what information included in your profile.

That’s why it is crucial that you take a critical eye to your page. Look closely at what you are revealing. You can still be yourself on FaceBook while deleting personal information that could put your identity in peril. It turns out “Big Brother” is watching, but it’s in the form of identity thieves, rather than the government.

February 19, 2010

Get a Deal on Craigslist!

Filed under: Online Safety, Tips — Tags: craigslist, internet safety, internet shopping, safe, savvy shopping tips, shop, shopping, shopping online, stay safe — admin @ 8:26 am

Craigslist is a cheap matchmaker, for buyers and sellers. It represents an affordable way for millions of people to connect, whether they are searching for a new couch, a new job or a new love.

If you’re a Craigslist newbie–or looking to sharpen your buying skills–here are a few tips to help you make the most of your transaction as a buyer.

First, be smart to stay safe. There have been millions of people who have happily bought and sold via the site. A minute fraction have led to dangerous situations, which have garnered a disproportionate amount of media attention. We’ll say no more about it, other than to urge you to always meet strangers in public places, take someone with you when visiting a private home and to trust your gut instinct–if you get into a situation that makes you uncomfortable, get going. Quickly.

Next, study the site. It’s straightforward enough. Spend a little time playing around in different categories to get a feel for what’s available and at what price.

If you see a good deal–grab it. Often the offerings are one-of-a-kind. If you think it’s a great bargain, so will others. Send an e-mail expressing interest. It does not commit you to buy the item, but it does put you in line for it. The treasure hunt aspect of Craigslist is what makes it both so much fun and so addicting.

Once you are in touch with the seller, make sure you agree on the method of payment. Most sellers want cash or checks.

If the item has been for sale for a while, you may be able to negotiate the price. Don’t be afraid to counter offer.

When you show up to see the item, be prepared to pay for it and haul it away on the spot.  If the item is not as it was described, you are under no obligation to purchase it. And if the seller tries to change the terms you had agreed upon, you are well within your rights to walk away.

Finally, there are great deals to be had on Craigslist on gift cards. But before you buy someone else’s unwanted gift card at a deep discount, verify the balance on the gift card. Cards often contain printed instructions on how to verify a balance.

Remember that not every item for sale on Craigslist is a bargain. Do your homework to see what an item is truly worth. It’s easy to get carried away!

For more information on Craigslist, check out this article with other savvy shopping tips.

October 2, 2009

Am I really safe using public WiFi?

Filed under: Online Safety, Wireless Internet — Tags: computer, computer recovery, computer repair, computer service, computer services, computer stores, computer support, computers, data recovery, data recovery software, disk recovery, easy recovery, file recovery, hard drive recovery, laptop repair, partition recovery, recover files, recover my files, recovery, recovery software, repair computer, WiFi — admin @ 7:12 am

How many times have you logged onto public WiFi and wondered if you’re safe and secure? In order to intercept your transmissions, a hacker would have to install special software called a ‘packet sniffer’ which secretly copies unsecured packets transmitted on the same network or create a ‘man-in-the-middle’ exploit to trick you into connecting directly to their computer instead of a wifi access point.

Packet sniffers are readily available on the Internet and any motivated 14-year old could figure out how to use one, but that doesn’t mean that everyone around you has one.

The other issue is that even if someone can see what website you are surfing while you are at the airport, no harm is done unless you access your e-mail account, an online banking site or other normally secured resources on the Internet.

Secured sites on the Internet will show up as ‘https:’ instead of ‘http’. If you need to type sensitive information into your computer while on public WiFi, make sure you are doing it on a page that has the ‘https:’ prefix so that your transmissions are being encrypted.

Sadly, many web-based e-mail systems have a secured login page, but once you get past the login, the rest of the pages are not secured. The easiest way to tell if your webmail system is secure at all times is to log in, then go to your Inbox and see if the ‘https:’ remained in the URL.

If your webmail does not encrypt pages after the login screen, then you need to think twice about using it on public wifi networks without adding additional security software, such as VPN – Virtual Private Network software (more on this later).

To avoid the ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack, be very careful to look at the icon next to each available connection when you are attempting to connect to a wifi network. A fake wifi connection will appear as two computers instead of something that looks like an antenna.

Overall, you are pretty safe using a public wifi. Just remember to watch what you click and don’t go into confidential files without a secure login while you are public.