If the threat of government intrusion wasn’t enough, tech firms and advertisers have been tracking users and gathering massive amounts of information. Even if you’re unaware of online tracking, it’s still happening (ever notice an ad “following” you around different websites?). Here are four ways that online entities can log your online browsing and activities, as well as some handy tips on how to stop them. Read here to get the scoop! As always, The Go To Tech Guru is here to help with cleaning your PC of these tracking methods!
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The “surface web” (ie. the regular web) is essentially what can be indexed by search engines such as Google or Bing, while the “deep web” consists of items that can’t be accessed using a search engine through a standard web browser. Read here for insight into how it all works and the dangers!
#security A new method of hacking devices via Bluetooth has been recently revealed. The potential threat is to for Android, iOS, Windows and Linux devices as well as many common household gadgets often referred to as IoT (Internet of Things) devices. If you're device Bluetooth radio is turned on, even if the device is locked, BlueBorne can hack it!
Get the specifics here! As always, The GoTo Tech Guru is here to help! #security #wifi #virus&malware #news With Microsoft's release of Windows 10, Build 15031 on February 8, 2017, it added a new OS feature for Bluetooth-equipped devices. It’s called Dynamic Lock, and lets you control access to your PCs based on how close they—and your Bluetooth-paired phones—are to them. That is, if the phone you’ve paired with your PC (it works for laptops, notebooks, tablets and desktops) is not found within radio range of your PC, Windows 10 turns off the screen and locks the PC after 30 seconds have elapsed. Thus, Dynamic Lock makes a dandy new security feature in Creators Update, one that most business users (or their IT departments) will find worth turning on and using. Here is how to enable this new feature! As always The GoTo Tech Guru is here to help!
#windows #security Careless workers and poor passwords have led to a rise in ransomware attacks and other breaches on SMBs, which cost an average of $1 million. Negligent employees are the no. 1 cause of data breaches at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across North America and the UK, according to a new study from Keeper Security and the Ponemon Institute, released Tuesday. Of the 1,000 IT professionals surveyed, 54% said careless workers were the root cause of cybersecurity incidents, followed by poor company password policies.
This is especially concerning due to the rise in ransomware attacks: More than 50% of SMBs surveyed had experienced such an attack in the past year, which often enters an organization via a phishing email aimed at tricking an employee into clicking a malicious link or download. Indeed, in the survey, 79% of those hit said the ransomware entered their system through a phishing or social engineering attack. Further, of those who experienced an attack, 53% were hit more than once in the year. More than 61% of SMBs had been breached in the last 12 months, compared to 55% in 2016. In an average breach, the amount of data stolen nearly doubled, from 5,079 records in 2016 to 9,350 in 2017. Read here for more details and how to protect yourself. As always, The GoTo Tech Guru is always here to help protect you! Just call us! #security Email spoofing is the forgery of an email header so that the message appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source. Email spoofing is a tactic used in phishing and spam campaigns because people are more likely to open an email when they think it has been sent by a legitimate source.
A recent Trend Micro report identified that CEOs and managers are most likely to have their email spoofed, while CFOs are the biggest targets of these attacks. Spoofed emails used in these kinds of attacks are part of a greater trend in cybersecurity known as business email compromise (BEC), the report said. FBI data cited in the report notes that the global losses due to BEC are $5.3 billion since 2013. Read here for the scoop and how to protect yourself. Of course, The GoTo Tech Guru is always here to help protect you! Just call us! #security Several security flaws in the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) protocol were recently disclosed, which can reportedly expose any wireless device. An attacker within range of a victim can exploit these weaknesses using Key Reinstallation Attacks (KRACKs). Attackers can use this attack technique to read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted by easily getting your Wi-Fi password. This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, photos, and so on. The attack works against all modern protected Wi-Fi networks. Depending on the network configuration, it is also possible to inject and manipulate data. For example, an attacker might be able to inject ransomware or other malware into websites or seemingly legitimate files you may download.
The weaknesses are in the Wi-Fi standard itself, and not in individual products or implementations. Therefore, any correct implementation of WPA2 is likely affected. To prevent the attack, users must update affected products as soon as security updates become available. Note that if your device supports Wi-Fi, it is most likely affected. Microsoft has already released a patch for Windows, so be sure to update your computer! Versions include: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016. You can find every patch for KRACK here. Use the following methods to protect yourself: 1. Do NOT use Wi-Fi in public or other dense areas such as office / apartment / condo buildings. 2. Use an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi. 3. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 4. Use your phone data instead of Wi-Fi. 5. Use HTTPS instead of HTTP urls. You can add a HTTPS Everywhere browser extension to Google Chrome, Firefox or Opera. There’s no need to configure it, so anybody can do it. In most cases, this extension will allow HTTP urls to use HTTPS instead. Read here for the gory details. As always, The GoTo Tech Guru is here to help protect you. #security #virus&malware #windows #wifi #news Android used to have a way to bypass your PIN or password, but that feature was removed in Android 5.0. However, there are a few ways to still gain access to your phone if you know the following tricks! Read this article for the inside scoop!
#android #security The reality is that password database compromises are a concern, no matter how a company may try to spin it. But there are a few things you can do to insulate yourself, no matter how bad a company’s security practices are. Whatever a service says when its password database is stolen, it’s best to assume that every service is completely incompetent and act accordingly. Here's what you need to know and how to protect yourself!
#security The Newest Ransomware Threat and how your Personal & Client Data could be released to the Public!9/28/2017 As if ransomware wasn’t bad enough, there is a new twist called doxware. The term "doxware" is a combination of doxing — posting hacked personal information online — and ransomware. Attackers notify victims that their sensitive, confidential or personal files will be released online. If contact lists are also stolen, the perpetrators may threaten to release information to the lists or send them links to the online content.
One of the earliest doxware attacks, Ransoc, informed victims that files violating intellectual property rights or files containing child pornography were present on their computers; unless the victim remitted a payment, the authorities would be notified and the victim would be incarcerated. With access to more devices, attackers could refine doxware attacks that make it cost-effective to target individuals on a massive scale. Although ransomware prevention software can be put in place, nothing is a 100% guarantee against being attacked. Protect the data on your PC so that even if stolen by Doxware, it can't be read or used. Read here for more details. Call The Go To Tech Guru for a consultation on how to protect your data! #security #news #virus&malware Did you know that when your laptop or desktop is stolen or taken somewhere for service, all anyone needs to do is take out your hard drive or SSD and they can get all your data without even your password??? That's right! It's really that easy and anyone can do it, even without any IT knowledge, training or experience! All they need is a regular screwdriver! Yep! So if you have all your passwords in a file, tax filings with your SSN, financial statements, private client data, browser stored passwords, etc., it will be easy as pie for anyone to steal your identity, if not all our money or worse!
The good news is that there is a way to protect yourself and it's not the cloud! Call The Goto Tech Guru for a consult and get your data protected today! It does NOT happen to everyone else except you! Don't wait till it's too late! It happens more often than people realize. #security #windows The personal information of up to 143 million U.S. consumers has been accessed in a “cybersecurity incident” at Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus that monitor payments activity and other factors to determine your credit score. The company announced the attack in a press release Thursday.
The attacks began in mid-May and continued through July. The information leaked includes names, Social Security numbers, birthdays and addresses — but in rarer cases, hackers were also able to unearth driver’s license and credit card numbers. Equifax says it will notify affected people via direct mail, and the company has created a dedicated website — equifaxsecurity2017.com — for consumers looking to see if their personal details were leaked. The company has also set up a call center to handle inquiries, which you can reach at 866-447-7559. Finally, the company says it is offering one free year of complimentary credit monitoring and identify theft monitoring, the latter of which includes a feature that scans the internet for any appearance of your Social Security number. If you’re worried about your personal information, you can always ask credit bureaus to set up a security freeze. That will prevent anyone who was able to get their hands on your information from actually being able to open up new lines of credit in your name. Click here to find out if you have personally been affected. #news #security "In one of the largest single data sets of emails yet discovered, computer security experts have come across a spam list containing a pretty extraordinary 711 million email addresses. Initially uncovered by the Paris-based security researcher known as Benkow, it contains two separate troves of data, one simply of email addresses, while the second more serious set contains addresses and passwords.
The important thing to do now is to stick your email into haveibeenpwned.com to see if yours is one of the unlucky 700 million address that has been harvested, or one of the even more unfortunate souls to have also had their passwords picked too. The site is run by a computer security expert Troy Hunt, who is the one who first got his hands on the mega list after Benkow sent it to him, and subsequently uploaded it. As he writes on his website, this is the largest single data set he has ever loaded into Have I Been Pwned, and that for a sense of scale, that's almost one address for every single man, woman, and child in all of Europe. Change the password. This goes not only for the email address in question, but also for any other websites that you may have used that password for. We all know that this is a total pain in the ass, but if someone had made a copy of your house key, you’d sure as hell get the locks changed." Get the full scoop here! #security Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are veritable Swiss Army Knives when it comes to privacy enhancement, censorship avoidance, anonymous file sharing, and more. But not all VPNs are created equal, and there’s no sense paying for features you don’t need. Read on as we explore the ins and outs of picking a perfect VPN service.
Basically, VPNs encrypt your connection, and prevent others from seeing the data you're transferring. This keeps data secure, particularly on public Wi-Fi networks in places like coffee shops and airports, ensuring no one can snoop your traffic and steal your passwords or credit card numbers. VPNs are also useful for hiding your activity from a snooping Internet Service Provider (ISP). If your ISP likes to throttle your connection based on content (tanking your file downloads and/or streaming video speeds in the process) a VPN completely eliminates that problem as all your traffic is traveling to a single point through the encrypted tunnel and your ISP remains ignorant of what kind of traffic it is. Every user is going to have slightly different VPN needs, and the best way to pick the ideal VPN service is to take careful stock of what your needs are before you go shopping. One thing to note: When using a VPN, your bandwidth will be reduced due to the overhead required by the VPN. As such, part of evaluating a VPN service before purchasing is to try it at different times of the day, for several days. Please note that if you are using cable for your ISP, your bandwidth may be further degraded due to the sharing of bandwidth within your neighborhood and/or condo/apartment complex, which is irregardless of whether you use a VPN or not. However, even with this slight inconvenience, safety and security should rank higher. This article will provide you with the knowledge to choose the right VPN service for you. Contact The Go To Tech Guru for questions and to help with the installation of your VPN service. #security "There’s a good chance your smart TV is spying on you. Smart TVs often analyze the videos you’re watching and report back — whether you’re watching live TV, streaming videos on a service like Netflix, or playing local video files. Worse yet, this can be a security problem." Read this article for more information on how to stop snooping!
As always, The GoTo Tech Guru is here to help! Call or email us anytime! #tv #security The Amazon Echo is a smart speaker developed by Amazon.com. It connects to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service Alexa, which responds to the name "Alexa". The device is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic and other real time information.
Despite all that the Echo can do, did you know that it currently cannot call 911? Find out all the if's and why's here! #security #news A credit card skimmer is an illegal device that acquires all your credit card info without you knowing. They can be found at ATM's, gas stations and other places. However, there's a simple but effective way to determine whether you're about to use one before it happens! Watch this video!
#security #news By now you've likely heard about Russia's cyber invasion of Ukraine's infrastructure. What many may not know is that it is strongly suspected that Russia was using Ukraine as the testing ground for such an attack on the United States!
Read this interesting article on how it all developed! #news #security Yes, it's true! Comcast uses all its routers as public hotspots anyone can sign into and use! This means your home Wi-Fi network is at risk of being more easily hacked! To turn off this public hotspot, follow the directions below or call TheGoToTechGuru for help on defeating this!
1. Go to customer.comcast.com 2. Sign into your Comcast account. 3. Click on Users & Preferences 4. Look for service address. Below you will see the link labeled “Manage Xfinity Wi-Fi.” 5. Click on “Manage Xfinity Wi-Fi.” 6. Click on the button labeled “Disable Xfinity Wi-Fi Home Hotspot. 7. Click “save.” If you don’t click “save,” the Hotspot won’t be turned off. Be sure to use a wireless device such as your smartphone to test if the hotspot is actually turned off. #security #wifi In the latest ongoing WikiLeaks whistleblowing scandal, the website has published documents from the CIA’s CherryBlossom project, exposing agency’s exploitation of Wi-Fi device security vulnerabilities. Released on Thursday, the new batch of CIA classified documents comes from the Vault 7 project. Known as CherryBlossom, it monitors the Internet activity of, and performs software exploits on, targets of interest.
Read here for the scoop! #android #iphone&ipad #news #security Free public Wi-Fi networks may seem like an easy and convenient way to access the internet while on the go, but the risks involved with using them can seriously outweigh any convenience or ease. There are a lot of risks to the data on your phone! Studies show that the vast majority of Americans don’t avoid public Wi-Fi. A security firm set up fake Wi-Fi hotspots at the Republican National Convention with names ranging from “I VOTE TRUMP! FREE INTERNET” to more legitimate-sounding monikers like “ATTWifi at GOP.” According to Avast, 1,200 people logged into those fake hotspots — and 68.3 percent of them went on to conduct online activities that compromised their identities and data.
The risk of attackers installing malware is present even if you’re using a Mac-based computer to connect to a public Wi-Fi network. While Mac users have long believed that they are safe from viruses and trojans normally, this is increasingly becoming less true. Although there's no 100% foolproof solution, here are some ways on how to protect yourself. #security #wifi With today’s reality of NSA spying and corporate snooping, a new smartphone seeks to shield users’ data from prying eyes.
Mike Janke, a former Navy SEAL sniper, founded an Android-based smartphone called Blackphone, which guards privacy – credit card information, contact lists, emails — in ways typical smartphones don’t. It is built by a "team of cryptographers, security and mobile innovators." http://www.offthegridnews.com/privacy/finally-an-off-the-grid-smartphone-that-protects-privacy/Read here on how the phone protects your information, including a video interview with the inventor about this new phone! A combination of common sense, backup, proactive protection, and automated removal tools is a solid defense against the growing scourge of ransomware. Ransomware doesn’t sneak into your PC like ordinary malware. It bursts in, points a gun at your data, and screams for cash—or else. And if you don’t learn to defend yourself, it could happen again and again, as the recent WannaCry outbreak is demonstrating. Read this article on protecting yourself. As always, The Goto Tech Guru is here to help!
It used to be that Google and other online maps could only show low detail images. Now, the government has allowed much higher resolution, allowing online maps to potentially show features like the color of your mailbox, objects sitting in your backyard, and even the types of plants growing in your garden.
The bad news is that, so far, it is impossible to hide your home from these next-generation eyes in the sky. The good news, though, is that all of the major mapping websites – Google, Bing and Yahoo – allow you to blur your home on their “street view” images, which often provide even more detail than satellite images. Follow this link to get directions on how to blur your home on the street view functions of Google Maps, Bing and Yahoo. It only takes a few minutes for each one. Stingrays, also known as "cell site simulators" or "IMSI catchers," are invasive cell phone surveillance devices that mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information. To find out more and whether your state is using Stingray and what agencies are using it, read this article and this article.
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Blog AuthorI love technology and how it enhances our lives! Just think, without the Apollo moon missions, we might not have calculators! Imagine!! Archives
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