10 Tips To Secure Your New Christmas Devices

If Santa brings you a bunch of new electronic toys for Christmas, take an extra moment to secure them properly.  Many new devices will work fine straight out of the box, but this usually means they are set up with very insecure manufacturer defaults.  Here are our tips:

  • Default passwords – Always take a moment to replace the default user name and password (often just “admin” and “password”) with something more secure.  Passwords should be ...
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Cybersecurity Top 10

cybersecurity_436x270As we approach year-end, many small and medium sized business owners and managers are coming to the realization that their best intentions for creating a cybersecurity program in their organization have fallen short.  This was the year, you promised yourself, that we get a handle on computer and network security.

Well it is not too late to get a start, and here is a ...

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FTC Issues Alert for Rental Car Users

DHSBack on August 31 I received an email from the Department of Homeland Security about a set of FTC recommendations for people using rental cars.  I have experienced this issue myself.  Basically, it is simple and relatively convenient to connect a smartphone to the smart vehicle’s infotainment system in order to enjoy hands free phone calls, stored musical tracks, and the phone’s navigation application.  The problem is that the ...

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Mobile Security Tips

smartphone-securityAs we add more mobile and portable devices to our digital collection, cybersecurity for mobile devices becomes more important.  Smartphones, tablets, wearable tech,  and ultra-portable laptops are certainly convenient and easy to carry, but that makes them easy for a thief to carry off.  When these devices are stolen, you lose much more than the hardware.  Every bit of information on the device is up for grabs too, from contact lists, personal information, ...

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Using Your Phone For Video Surveillance

smartphone-videoI discovered a while ago that my LG smart phone can be used fairly easily to make a surreptitious video of a meeting simply by turning on the video camera and slipping the phone into a shirt pocket.  The camera lens clears the edge of the pocket nicely, and there is no indication, at least on my phone, the the camera is rolling.  This is a great way to keep a record ...

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Removing TFA from an Account in Authenticator

google-authenticatorGoogle Authenticator is my favorite go-to app for setting up two-factor authentication.  But what if you want to remove an account from Google Authenticator?

I set up two-factor authentication for Facebook and the Authenticator app did not work.  So I tried again, and ended up with two accounts on the Authenticator list, neither of which worked.  This pushed other working accounts down far enough ...

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Two Factor Authentication for WordPress

Hardening and securing WordPress websites is one of my specialties.  We have reported previously on three of the best WordPress security plugins, Sucuri, Bulletproof, and WordFence.  I can tell you that each of these plug-ins performed admirably against the continuous barrage of brute force and password reset attacks that my sites have endured.  Security appeared to be strong, but I wanted more.

I have been deploying two-factor authentication (TFA) everywhere I can, in order to overcome the inherent weakness of password ...

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Smartphone and Tablet Security Solutions

smartphone-securityOn Wednesday we discussed the many, many ways your smartphone is vulnerable to attack.  Today we will look at solutions.  Smart mobile devices need to be secured just as you would a laptop or desktop computer  The small size and easy portability of smartphones and tablets make them easier to steal or lose.  Some of our recommendations:

  • Record the electronic serial number (ESN) of your phone or tablet. This is information you ...
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Your Smartphone and Tablet Need Security Too

phone-thiefMobile smart devices have all the capabilities of a laptop or computer.  What this means from a cybersecurity perspective is that they are every bit as vulnerable as a laptop or desktop computer.  The fact that they are small makes them easy for a thief to slip in a pocket or backpack and carry away, along with your personal information, contacts, pictures, geo-location history, and a raft of critical and revealing ...

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Chinese ARM Processors Have A Backdoor

Allwinner-chipFile this under Not Surprised.

One of the problems with sending all our technology manufacturing jobs to foreign countries in order to produce less expensive goods is that some of these countries are not necessarily our best buddies.  With some of them we might have what you would call “trust issues.”

Recently The Hacker News released an article about how a Chinese manufacturer of ARM processors (Allwinner sun8i for A83T, H3, or ...

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