Archive for ‘security

Why bad guys DO want your computer

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Tweet Some people tell me, “I’m not really too concerned about hackers getting on my computer… there’s nothing on there that anyone would want anyway!” Not true. Your computer has value to a cyber-criminal in a variety of different ways that you might not even be aware of. Here are a few things the [...] Read more »

My troll call with a tech support scammer

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Tweet This is a current popular scam that unfortunately snags a lot of unsuspecting computer users. It’s the Fake Tech Support scam. You get a call from someone claiming to be with “Microsoft” or from “Windows” and they tell you that your computer has been reporting some problems and viruses, so they need to [...] Read more »

Force your web browser to remember your site login info

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Tweet Don’t you hate having to type in your user name and password every time you visit Facebook, Gmail, or another website requiring login?  Or maybe you have had it set up in the past that these sites would remember your email address and have it already entered for you, and you just had to [...] Read more »

Cover up your webcam – someone could be watching you

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Tweet When you are using your computer, and your webcam is always right there in front of you, do you ever wonder if it’s possible that someone, somewhere out there on the internet is looking at you?  A lot of people in the past would have said that’s being paranoid.  Unfortunately, it’s not a crazy [...] Read more »

Make sure you are getting ALL Windows updates

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Tweet Update: Please read this blog post before following any instructions below. I recently had a client who brought me a computer that had a few different issues.  They all seemed to be unrelated – odd error messages popping up, the screen not displaying content the way it should all the time, etc.  In cases [...] Read more »

The Java security solution

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Tweet I’ve been getting email questions from clients about the recent security problems with Java.  I am going to use today’s blog post and podcast to set the record straight so you can make sure your computer is safe. What is Java?  Simply put, Java is a computer programming language.  One of its advantages [...] Read more »

Test your password strength

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Tweet Two of the most common mistakes made by computer users, in terms of securing their online accounts: using weak passwords, and using the same password for many different logins.  I really hate to harp on this incessantly, but it really is important. With the password situation, we have conflicting ideals:  Everyone wants to [...] Read more »

Important security fix, and Windows Update setup

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Tweet Today’s tip isn’t really a fun or amazing thing you can do with your computer.  However, it is important if you use Internet Explorer with Windows.   This past week Microsoft announced that there was a “security vulnerability” in Internet Explorer that could allow hackers to go in through the web browser and [...] Read more »

A free solution to your password problem

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Tweet Last week I wrote about using the same password in lots of places, and why it’s a bad (and potentially very costly) practice.  That blog post was about the problem.  This week I’m going to show you the solution.   The solution is a service called LastPass (www.LastPass.com).  The name is based on [...] Read more »

How to spot a scam/phishing email

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Tweet It’s kind of hard to believe, but a LOT of people are still falling victim to scam emails, also known as phishing emails.  When “phishing” is spelled that way, it just means that there is a scammer looking to grab some personal information in order to steal your identity and your money. There [...] Read more »