Is This Website Safe?

Hi All,

Symantec is a very, very large computer security company that provides computer security individuals and corporations.  Its a large, large company which bought another company called Norton several years ago.

Norton provides computer security to regular folks and their computers. They use a product called Safe Web - of which you can read about more by clicking here. 

The interesting thing about Norton Safe Web is that users can look up a site and get Norton's rating of the site with respect to security and safety of the site.  Click here to use Norton Safe Web.  Nothing is downloaded or installed onto your computer. 

Information about the site users type in includes: website location, Norton Rating, Summary and Total Threats from the site. 

Norton uses icons to let the viewer know whether or not the site is 'safe' to use.  A green box with an ok in it is the top rating.  An orange box with an exclamation point is the next rating.  A red box with an 'x' is the lowest rating.

Users can also tap into Norton Safe Search community rating by viewing the table for community ratings on the right side of the screen.  Users can also review sites with a brief narrative.  Date of the review is also included.

Finally, click on this link for Norton's Community Buzz page.  Viewers can see sites like Google, Facebook,  YouTube and many others and there Norton Safe Search scores.  Interesting!

To some extent the site is an free advertisement for Norton's Safe Web software - which they (Norton) are trying to sell to customers...Buyer/web viewer beware. 

But its still a somewhat interesting and useful website!  Enjoy the site and the reviews!

Regards,
Stu

Password Managers For All Your Devices

Hi All,

A quick summary of an article entitled 'Review: The Best Password Managers for PCs, Macs, and Mobile Devices' from InfoWorld back in June of 2015.  '10 local and cloud-based contenders make passwords stronger and online life easier for Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone users.'

Password managers are good ways to securing your online identity.  They also help you increase the strength of your passwords that protect your online accounts by remembering the passwords for you.

Seriously - what are the odds of you remembering a random string of numbers, digits and characters for one account - let alone multiple accounts?  You won't - its that simple.

But wait, there's more...read this article titled, '10 Surprising Cyber Security Facts That May Affect Your Online Safety'.

Read on for the 6 best password managers to help protect you against id theft, online account security and privacy.

You might also want to read this article from NetIQ title, '84 Fascinating & Scary IT Security Statistics'.

In any event, the password managers that are covered in the initial article from InfoWorld include: 
1Password - Agile Bits
Dashlane
KeePass
LastPass
PasswordBox
SplashID Safe

The above links go to each vendors' website - in many cases there are free versions which don't offer the same level of security as the pay version....

Good luck protecting your passwords and staying secure online!

Regards,
Stu

Ten Things...from TechRepublic

Hi All,

TechRepublic is an information technology news aggregator for computer and technology users.  TechRepublic features blogs, community forums, webcasts, research and more for information technology enthusiasts, professionals and others to utilize.

Okay..with all that jargon out of the way, TechRepublic covers cloud computing, big data, computer and network security and much, much more for computer users and professionals.

For the purpose of this blog entry though, I want to focus on an entry called '10 Things'.  Basically these are key facts on a wide range of technologies, techniques, strategies, and skills in the form of a  concise, easy-to-read, lists.   Read on for more examples!

10 Cost-effective ways to quickly beef up your company security.
10 tips for spotting a phishing email
10 legal areas that IT managers should know about 
10 ways Microsoft Office 2016 could improve your productivity
10 of the best pieces of IT advice I ever heard
10 things you should never do on your resume
10 ways to get the most bang for your buck with an Android device
10 easy ways to punch up your presentations
10 web-based tools to maximize productivity
10 free Android apps that are worth checking out 

Enjoy the links!

Regards,
Stu

More Computer Security - Why? Because It's Important!

Hi All,

I just came across an interesting New York Times article on the web titled, 'How Many Times Has Your Personal Information Been Exposed To Hackers?'

Indeed...using the interactive features on the site, readers can find out how many times your information has been exposed to hackers in categories like:

address information,
birthday,
credit/debit card,
email,
employment history,
financial history,
fingerprints,
health history,
password,
phone number,
social security number

Users are asked to answer basic questions and check off which of the various services they used - then the numbers in the various categories change based on which the user checks off.

The United States Government, AOL, Ebay, Twitter, Anthem, Kmart, Home Depot, Target and UPS are among the larger companies listed in the article as to whether or no users had any affiliation to the organization.

The article goes on to explain what readers should do now, why this keeps happening to websites and how you can protect yourself in the future....

Click on these links to learn more about how you can protect yourself online so you are less likely to become hacked, spoofed or have your identity compromised.

Online Safety - USA.gov
Tips For Online Safety
Secure Your Computer
FCC - How to Protect Yourself Online
FBI - How to Protect Your Computer
US Department of Justice - Protecting Yourself While Using the Internet

Hope the links help protect you while you are online!

Regards,
Stu

Scams, Fraud and Scheme's: A How-To Avoid Them

Hi All,

I just found a very helpful site on the web from the Federal Trade Commission.  The previous link is for the Consumer Information section of the site - which is tremendously valuable to consumers - trust me...you'll see why in a minute.

There are other links on the site with information on Money & Credit, Homes & Mortgages, Health & Fitness, Jobs & Making Money, Privacy & Identity, Blog, and Video & Media.

The FTC homepage has a rotating set of highly relevant consumer videos and links when you visit the site: topics include: Hijacked Computer? What To Do, IRS Imposter Scams, Checking Your Credit Report and Cobradores De Dueda (Scams Targeting the Latino Community information).
 
The section of the site that I want to discuss in detail is the Privacy and Identity section.  When you click on the Privacy and Identity section you have a bunch of options: Limiting Unwanted Calls and Emails, Computer Security, Kids' Online Safety, Protecting Your Identity and Repairing Identity Theft.  Click on any of the prior links to go to that particular subject.

The section on Protecting You Identity discusses Active Duty Alerts, Credit Freezes, Financial Readiness,  Keeping Your Personal Information Secure, Identity Theft Protection Services and a link to Signs of Identity Theft.

As is usual for many federal government websites, there is a search box at the top right side of the page on all pages on the website.  The site is available in Spanish as well.

There are also links on the page for Related Items, the FTC Privacy Policy, About the FTC and links to Contact the FTC. Users can stay connected with the FTC by getting email updates, viewing the FTC blog feed, using Facebook, YouTube and/or Twitter.

Hopefully you won't need to use the resources on the site - but if you do...I hope they are helpful and easy to use.

Regards,
Stu

What the Sony Corp Hack Means to You?

Hi All,

You might have heard the the Sony Corporation's computers were hacked before November 24th...click here for a brief overview of the event.

Eventually, U.S. officials figured out that North Korea was behind the Sony hack....click here for more information about that part of this event. 

The New York Times also wrote an article about North Korea and how they were behind the Sony computer hack...

Now, besides for reading all the gory, scandalous, behind-the-scenes stories of the hack and the various executives' emails that were strewn across the internet  (for example, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Amy Pascal), there are a bunch of lessons for computer users - both as employees and as regular folk who use computers on a daily basis...

For example,  an article titled, '4 Things Every Single Person Can Learn From the Sony Hack'. Simply put, don't email your passwords, don't open suspicious links in your email, don't email your passwords,, and encrypt your most sensitive data....

Here are some other excellent links to help you protect your privacy, data, email and search history while you use the internet.

Privacy Rights.org - Online Privacy: Using the Internet Safely
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: Children's Online Privacy - A Resource Guide For Parents
PC Magazine - Computer Security Reviews and Prices
Stay Safe Online.org -  Tips and Advice - Stop-Think-Connect on the Web
Palo Alto Medical Foundation - Safety on the Internet
WikiHow - How to Be Safe on the Internet
Hubbard Township - Stay Safe Online

Enjoy your time on the web!

Regards,
Stu

Computer Security and Passwords

Hi All,

Check out this article from the New York Times (title is: Even Big Companies Cannot Protect Their data) concerning computer/internet security:

It is very interesting article. Internet users should just ignore this issue - it seems like every week another company comes out and discusses a breach in their data. Click on this link from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) for lists of companies that have had data breaches over the past few years. Wow - this is scary stuff!

So, what can users do to protect their data online?

From the University of Texas Information Technology Services comes this article that suggests that strong passwords are an essential way to keep computer, data and accounts safe. Some tips for creating and using safe passwords are included: use both upper/lower case letters, use special characters like !@#$%^&*()_+ and others and don't use sample passwords that are give on different web sites...

The Microsoft website has an interesting feature called 'Password Checker' - basically the site grades how strong - or, weak - a particular password is. It is very interesting to see what they consider a strong password has...let's just say that the password has to have a LOT of letters and numbers and unique characters included.

Also, this site comes from Microsoft as well. It explains how users can create strong passwords online. Useful, interesting and it cuts to the chase - no extraneous material included.

Symantec is one of the world's largest computer security firms. As a result, I went to their website and dug up this webpage titled, 'The Simplest Security: A Guide to Better Password Practices'.

Many computer users have wireless networks at home now that they are easier to install. This means there is a whole new way for hackers to compromise your computer security. Click on this link from About.com which discusses Wireless Network Security. Note that on the About.com there are many links on the left side of the page for readers to get more information about wireless networking...

Finally, this link from OnGuardOnline.gov discusses multiple issues about computer security. Topics like encrypted websites, password protection, treating personal information like cash and using security software that updates automatically are discusses. And it is from a reputable source - the US government.

Enjoy the links I've included - hopefully they'll save you a lot of grief and repair time from fixing a compromised computer or computer network.

Regards,
Stu