CrexTechs Blog

Here is a letter from the Sunbelt Security News newsletter about who really needs to take extreme measures to protect themselves online.

Worries about Being Carefree Online

I am a senior, age 70; who knows blessed little about computers and different applications. Actually I feel very satisfied with what little I do in cyberspace, but...I wonder sometimes. My mainstay is communication with friends and family via email. No Facebook, thank you. I love reading my science and medical e-letters. I Google a lot for information. I make occasional purchases and interact with Netflix. And I pay my EZPass and TMobile bills online too. While I do have protection from VIPRE I do occasionally wonder if I should be so carefree when I hear about the latest virus scares. Is it really necessary to change my passwords? Just thinking about it gives me the "willies" and I know I would need help from the kids. Bottom line is I trust VIPRE to protect me! - DD 

Editor's Note: Just be aware of your computing environment, online or off. Just like the old adage, don't take candy from strangers; the same is true about attachments. Don't open attachments that you receive from strangers or for that matter even from friends if they are not expected. Use strong passcodes or phrases. It is a dangerous environment unfortunately, but with good security practices, you should be fine.

Photo files are also an important part of using a computer for a lot of seniors. Our advise at CrexTechs is to always save photos to My Pictures (you can have any number of sub-file folders under My Pictures to organize your photos)  then back up My Pictures periodically by coping the whole My Pictures file to a thumb drive (also called a flash drive, key drive, pen drive, memory stick, etc).

CrexTechs has lots of these little thumb drives on hand so if you need one, stop by Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.  We can also show you how to use these handy little drives.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers.

CrexTechs has used Gmail for a few years now.  We recommend it for any of our clients and readers who are currently using Outlook or other email software to download mail from their internet service provider.

Foremost among the reasons we use and recommend Gmail is that with Gmail, you do not have to download all of your mail from your local service provider onto your machine along with spam and viruses.

Another major consideration is that Gmail puts a lot of resources into ensuring the security of your mail account,  scanning incoming mail for viruses and other malware as well as providing state-of-the-arts spam filters.  Local internet service providers often do not have the resources to provide the level of security that current threats now require.

With Gmail however, one must still be vigilant about security for your email and other accounts.

Protect your  Twitter,  Gmail,  Blogger,  Buzz, Orkut, Google Reader, Bookmarks, and other accounts by following these Google/gmail recommendations:

At Google, we take account security very seriously. To ensure that
your computer and account remain safe, we strongly recommend following
these steps regularly:

1. Check for viruses and malware. Run a daily scan on your computer with a trusted anti-virus software. If the scan detects any suspicious
programs or applications, remove them immediately.
2. Regularly update your account recovery options. Make sure to
update your account recovery options to check that they are always
up-to-date.
3. Change your passwords at least twice a year. Make sure you choose passwords that contain a combination of numbers, characters, and
case-sensitive letters to strengthen the security of your account.
4. Perform regular operating system and browser updates. Whether you use Windows or Mac OS, we recommend enabling your automatic update setting, and updating when you get a notification. To check for browser updates in Internet Explorer, select the Tools tab and click
Windows Update. In Firefox, just click the Help tab and select Check
for Updates. Note that Google Chrome automatically updates to a newer
version when one is released.
5. Never use your Google Account password on another website. If
you enter your password in an external website and it's compromised,
someone could try to sign in to your Google Account with the same
information.
6. Protect your password. Never enter your password after following
a link in an email from an untrusted site. Always go directly to
mail.google.com or www.google.com/accounts/Login. Also, never send
your password via email. Google will never email you to ask for your
password or other sensitive information.

If you use Gmail:

* Update your recovery email address and your security question. This will help you recover your account if you ever lose access to it. Make sure that you have access to the email address listed as your
recovery, and the answer to your security question is easy for you to
remember, but hard for others to guess.
* Use a secure connection when signing in. In your Gmail settings,
select 'Always use HTTPS.' This setting protects your information from
being stolen when you're signing in to Gmail on a public wireless
network, like at a cafe or hotel. Read more.

You should also be sure to:

* Never tell anyone your password; if you do tell someone, change
it as soon as possible.
* Use a strong password, and don't write it down or send it via email.
* Run scans and change your password immediately after noticing any changes in your account that you didn't initiate.
* Always sign out of your account when you're using public
computers. Just click Sign out in the top right corner of the screen
when you're done using your Google Account.
* Clear forms, passwords, cache, and cookies in your browser on a
regular basis, especially on a public computer.

And, don't use the remember me on this machine option even on your own computer!

If you have a question or suggestion that I can blog about, CrexTechs will send you a Like Cash $10.00 off coupon!  Send your questions or suggestions to blog@crextechs.com.  Use Blog Question in your subject line.

If you wish to be a guest blogger, submit post proposals to the same address. Use Blog Post Proposal in the subject line along with a link to your webpage or blog.  Guest bloggers will get a link to their web/blog page on this blog and a Like Cash $10.00 off coupon.

Coupons can be used on items purchased from this blog, from our eBay listings, or at our location in Grantsburg.

I stay logged in to my Facebook account so that I can easily keep up with the busy lives of  my friends and family.   I've been wondering lately if this is a good idea.  If I stay logged in to FB and I get hacked by a malicious person*  I have left myself wide open to mischief let alone down right nastiness on my FB page not to mention a possible way into my machine where much more damage can be done.

On any other web site I never check the box remember me on this computer. If my computer is stolen, it would be way too easy for the thief to find the sites I visit such as my work and personal email accounts, my bank and credit card accounts, my eBay and PayPal accounts, etc.  If I'm out-of-town when the theft occurs, I may not know until I get home.

Even if I am not the victim of a break-in, my computer can be broken into while I'm using it and a talented hacker can grab all the personal info he/she can get nabbing my machine--no need to steal the box when you can steal the contents!  I know that when I check remember me on this machine my login information is being stored on my machine.  Though encrypted, this information is hackable.

For more info on why you don't want to be remembered check out (may be a little overly technical for the average person):

http://www.itwriting.com/blog/1770-o2-router-attack-shows-danger-of-staying-logged-in.html

Also check out the lated Sunbelt Security Newsletter article about the importance of changing your email password and of stopping using the remember me option.

http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/?id=87

I am resolved to logging off FB each day.  No more remember me.

*All hackers should be considered malicious, they are invading personal space and even if they do it for the thrill and don't intend to perpetrate ill deeds, they have no business snooping around in my world!

Have you ever clicked on "no" or "cancel" on a popup only to have it start downloading something onto your machine anyway?  Happens to me once in a while.  Here is advise from the professionals at Sunbelt Security (quoted from their newsletter) about what you should do when confronted with a popup that tells you such things as, you are in danger of being infected...download this now:

Should you come across one of these critters, DO NOT click agree, okay, etc. instead from your keyboard press CTRL F4 to close the window or Alt F4 to close the browser. If that does not work, hold in your power button, to shut off your machine with a cold hard boot.

These popups can be tricky -- even if you click on "cancel" or "no" or the little X in the corner, this action will often trigger them to start a download onto your machine.

These downloads often prevent you from being able to shut down the window or your browser the usual way but using the suggested keystrokes (hold down the Ctrl key while striking the F4 key or holding down the Alt key while striking the F4 key) will usually work, otherwise hold in the on/off button on the computer until it shuts down.  You can also unplug your machine (desktop).

It's better to be safe than sorry so I will often shut off my browser when I come to any suspicious webpage or popup rather than try to navigate away.

If you think it is too late, do it anyway.  It often isn't too late if it starts to download provided you can break the internet connection right away.  Shutting down the browser or shutting down the machine immediately will often save you provided you move quickly.

The key here is to be vigilant, pay attention to what is going on when you are on the internet.  If in doubt, shut down!!  It is better to shut down than to be shutdown.