Install Mobile Apps

The last post summarized concerns about downloading apps.  Now, what can you do to reduce the possibility of downloading an app that has malicious intent.

• Download applications from trusted sources such as Google Play Store or Apple Store.
• For Android users, leave the checkmark unchecked for "allow installation of apps from unknown sources" in the security settings.
• Read the ratings and reviews.  People love voicing their opinions and frustrations, especially when money is involved.
• Refrain from "rooting" or "jailbreaking" your mobile device, which grants administrative access and allows the installation of anything.

More Cyber

I expect you feel I am doing overkill with information on cybersecurity, but believe me, we are seeing lots of cyber attacks on clients.

Thousands of applications are downloaded each day for entertainment or to make our lives easier, but along with the fun and convenience offered by mobile devices comes increased risk for malware.  Money isn't just made from popular apps like Angry Birds.  It is also lucrative to create malware disquised as legitimate applications to mislead users into allowing additional permissions that give access to accounts, storage, contacts, network communication, system tools, and settings.  Some malicious applications are known to mimic banks, deceiving users into entering their financial information.

Looking ahead, it's only going to get worse as mobile devices become more affordable.  Security software companies have already rolled out malware detection applications because of the amount of malicious software already discovered.

Nest:  What can you do?

More on Think Before You Post

I am dedicating a lot of space to cybersecurity issues, but it is one of the most important issues facing all of us today.

So here is more on what you can do to avoid posting information that you would not compromised. 

Employ what you learned during communications about the responsibility of the sender and the perspective of the receiver.  Quick phrases without context, mixed with emotion, and combined with a lack of nonverbal cues are easily misread.  Always think about how you want to be viewed, and don't believe that it doesn't reflect on you away from the keyboard.  If it's posted online, it does!

Online gaffes are played out online all the time, whether by a politician or a celebrity or even among your friends.  Odds are you know someone whose relationship has been affected by something said online.  So always take a moment before pressing "enter" or "send" and exercise a strict rule about how and when you will engage online.  Remember this is ink for the entire world to see, and not only immediately, but likely until the end of time.

Post, Update

As we said in the last post, what you put out there in cyber space is forever. 

Today's speed of information sharing means that other users can rebroadcast your statements to any number of profiles and services within seconds, effectively creating thousands and thousands of copies.  Beyond rebroadcasting, search engines actively gather content across the Internet and store it on their databases, even storing the pages themselves.  Organizations like Archive.org and the Library of Congress make it their mission to preserve the Internet by copying billions of pages.  So one way another, whatever you post, comment, tweet, or share is immediately captured by something you don't control -- and can't delete!

More later.......

Think Before You Post

Like diamonds, your actions online are forever.  The idea that you can completely "delete" or "remove"something is a fallacy.  When you post, update, or engage online there are numerous ways that your content gets backed up, repeated, linked, indexed, and otherwise spread across the internet.

More on this subject soon. 

Software Hackers

OK, so what can you do to reduce the possibility of having your social software hacked?

1.  Know what software you have instalaled.  Take care to keep your web browsers up-to-date.  These days, many auto-update.  Make sure Java is set to automatically update as well and follow through with update notifications from it (as it usually requires user interaction to update).

2.  Check to see that you have the latest version;  software and operating systems are dropped from support, so be sure you use a version that is currently being supported.

3.  Check for new security patches and updates on a regular basis, the more frequent the better.

Whenever possible, use automatic update features, and make sure you turn it on!

Keep Your Software Up To Date

Criminals and hackers are always looking to exploit holes within software to gain access to your computing devices.  One method they use is to look for vulnerabilities within software code to target their attacks.  Once these vulnerabilities are discovered, software providers rewrite or update their software code to "patch" the holes so they cannot be exploited.  In 2015 over 100 patch bulletins were issued.

Microsoft isn't alone in the battle of finding and patching these holes.  All software providers are in this cat-and-mouse game of staying ahead of the criminals.  That is why it is important to update your operating system and installed software regularly. 

Next blog post will tell you what you can do to protect yourself in this area.

What You Can Do

So how do you know who you are talking to on social virtual networks? 

Always think twice.
Remember that online friends are not the same as real-life friends.
Never agree to meet someone by yourself if you do not know them.
Do not give your personal information online.  Keep your last name, address, and phone number   private.
Profiles can be fake;  don't trust simply what is posted online.
Understand the potentially dangerous situations that could occur online and in real life, and be certain not to expose yourself to them. 

Know Who You Are Talking To

It's easy to lie about who you are on social virtual networks.  Whether it's a small omission on a profile or something more nefarious, there is no question that people are generally free to create whatever identity they want online.  That freedom occasionally leads to extreme cases of complete identity manipulaltion.

There are many serial predators online with fake identities  waiting to victimize you.  It's up to you to do the digging to know who is on the other end of the screen.  Are they the real thing or something else?  How can you trust that they are who they say they are?  Do you take the same precautions on the Web that you tell your children to take?

Next post we will talk about what you can do to protect yourself.

Social Media

Social media sties are a great way to interact with other users over the internet.  Unfortunately, a large number of social media users don't understand the importance of limiting what's posted on these sites.  Attackers regularly use social media sites as reconnaissance tools,  It's no longer surprising to hear about people falling victim to identity theft or networks being infiltrated because of information gathered from social media sites.

What can you do?

• Assume that anything you post online is public and permanent.
• Don't post information that may damage you or your company's reputation.
• Be cautious of what you post because any information can be used to carry out additional attacks
• Go through all your privacy settings and restrict who is able to view your profiles.
• Connect with people you know.

Add On to Prior Pot

Recognizing phishing attempts:

Check that the e-mail message is well composed with the grammar and spelling you would expect from the sender, whether it's your boss, your brother or your bank.

Does the e-mail ask you for personal information?  Most organizations would never ask for personal information in an e-mail or ask you to "reconfirm" your password and account information.

Trust your gut!  If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.  If you are not sure and are worried that there is something urgent that needs your attention, then contact that company/organization as you normally would.  Never use the e-mail links or any information from a suspected phishing e-mail (including the phone number!). 

Understand that e-mail phishing works on unsuspecting people every day.  Even e-mails that seem farfetched ("Send me $100,000 so I can give you my inheritance") work all the time, but those aren't the only e-mails that get sent.  There are often crafty and well-constructed e-mails that require a close look to notice they are malicious.  So take that second lok and check before you click, download, or enter your information.

Phishing E-mails

So what can you do to prevent malicious viruses via e-mails?  First look at the "from" address.  Be sure you recognize it.  Than take a second look at the domain name (that's the name after the "@" symbol).  Make sure it's spelled correctly.  At the office, an internal e-mail from your coworker would display only his or her name.  If it also shows the full e-mail address, it came from the outside.

Look for a "reply" address that matches the "from" address.

More soon..........

Spam & Junk

Understand that "spam" and "junk" filters do not catch all malicious e-mails.  Second, know what signs to look for in a phishing e-mail.  The vast majority of phishing attempts are fairly easy to recognize and avoid.  My next blog will give some aspects of phishing e-mails that can help you recognize their true nature.

Tired of Cybersecurity Yet?

Phishing is one of the most commonly used attacks against users.  By way of e-mail, those with malicious intent will contact unsuspecting persons, asking them to click a link or download a file.  Generally, the end goal is to infect the user's computer with malware or get them to submit important personal information.  Next blog will deal with what you can do to avoid malicious attempts. 

Passwords

Never write down your password, and never store it in your browser.  If you have many user names and passwords (as we all do), it's impossible to remember them all.  Some form of storage is needed.  Utilize a password manager application.  A password manager automates the random generation of all passwords for each of your accounts, allowing you to remember only one strong passphrase (see prior blog posting.)  Password managers have strong encryption and can pseudo-randomly generate strong passwords for each unique account you log in to.

Here is a non-extensive list of password managers, as of September 10, 2015, from Wikipedia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_password_managers

Even More Security

I know these postings are lacking variety but security of your electronic devices is important enought to warrant the attention.

Major software vendors that we are alll familiar with operate their own websites to distribute or sell their own software.  Use a major vendor's site to download their software, (e.g., Microsoft, Apple, Google). 

Even open-source projects typically have their own websites where you can safely download the software.  First search for favorable references to the project or developers from sources like industry news and review sites or software publishers you've worked with in the past. 

More to come......

And Still More Cyber Security

Download software only from reputable websites.  Software downloads are a great way to disguise malware.  There are numberous sites that serve as repositories for independent developers and/or open-source softwarek, which makes validating the source of the software and the download difficult.  Without knowing where the software or download originated, you could expose yourself to some very harmful software. 

Next:  What can you do?

Still More Cyber Security

Which antivirus software should you use?  Want to know who the best is?                                      Visit http://www.av-comparatives.org.  They run many different types of tests against various AV vendors' software and on different types of platforms.  Check it our and see what would work for you!

More on Cyber Security

One of the top methods of computer attacks comes from malicious software (malware), to the extent that there are tens of millions of new pieces of malware each year.  Malware can be transmiotted to a computer from file downloands, e-mail attachments, USB thump drives, and other removable media.  To make matters worse, malware is often disguised as something safe or even helpful like antivirus software.

More on this in a couple of days......

More on Passwords

OK, so how do you build a strong password? 

Start with a normal phrase that means something to only you so yu can remember it.  Do not use common quotes from books or other cultural artifacts.  Write it down, including spaces.

For example, if the phrase you use is:

Super best phrase of pass that only I can remember

Add capitalization in odd places

SupEr best pHrase of paSs that Only I caN remember

Add numbers

SupEr7best90 pH32rase of paSs th00at Only I c4aN rem9ember

Add special characters (!#$)(*&%<>?":{}][,./;@).

SupE$r7best90 pH32&rase" of paSs: th00at 0,nly I c4aN re;m9ember

That looks too hard for me to remember so I'll simply

SupE$r best90 paSs:

I'll type it into a window that will not save my work but will allow me to read what I have typed a few times to engage muscle memory.

SupE$rtest90paSs:

After typing it a few times, I have an idea of how I usually mess up typing the passphrase, which I use as part of my memory of how to type out the passphrase.  Destroy the written copy of this password-generation process that we started with.  Now you have a strong passphrase that you can remember.