Plain Answers to Geek Questions

Controlling How You Share

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:27:00 +0000

Most of my recent posts have had to deal with privacy issues on Facebook. This is because it has been a cluster of screw ups for a very long time and many people have sent me questions dealing with how to secure their privacy. Privacy seems to be a relative term in conjunction with Facebook and how it portrays you in the digital universe.

Now, Facebook has again altered the way in which we choose the privacy options for our accounts. Please note that FB did not change any of our previous settings, only the way in which we get to those settings.

You can learn more about how the controls have changed by clicking "Learn More" in the dialogue box at the top of your screen, or you can go to: http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php

The new controls are an attempt to make privacy settings easier and more obvious to the user.

It is easier to get to all of the controls in Facebook. You can access your Privacy Controls by clicking Account > Privacy Settings. That's it! Then there are four areas of the screen that need your attention.

1. Sharing on Facebook is the content you post on Facebook on a day to day basis. You may change the privacy settings for each of these items.The default is the Recommended Settings. But there are other options beside Everyone, Friends of Friends and Friends Only. To change to tighter privacy, I suggest clicking Customize Settings in the lower left of the right hand panel. Then you may change from the recommended settings to allow only certain lists of friends to access portions or all of your personal information.

2. Basic Directory Information is the information available to everyone by default and cannot be changed.

3. Applications and Websites allows you make changes to which applications you use, Game and Application Activity, Info Accessible Through Your Friends, Instant Personalization and the information that is available by Public Search.

4. Block Lists is the list of blocked users, applications and application invites as determined by you.

This is all much more concise than the previous privacy attempt, but doesn't provide any more control than the previous version. Make sure you use the Customize Settings option everywhere available. Use lists to determine sub groups which can view your specific profile information.

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Reclaim Your Privacy On Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:07:00 +0000

Today, there's a better way to make sure that your Facebook privacy is as private as possible. Now there is one place to click in order to fix-up your profile.

Test Your Facebook Privacy
You can test your Facebook privacy by using a tool is called ReclaimPrivacy, and its name says it all. All you have to do is;

Drag this link to your web browser bookmarks bar: Scan for Privacy

Go to your Facebook privacy settings and then click that bookmark once you are on Facebook.

You will see a series of privacy scans that inspect your privacy settings and warn you about settings that might be unexpectedly public.

Follow them on Facebook to hear about the latest updates.

You can surf over to ReclaimPrivacy.org and look for the link that says "Scan for Privacy." Add that link as a bookmark in your browser, either by dragging it onto a bookmark toolbar or by right-clicking it and selecting the "Bookmark" option.
Now head over to Facebook. Sign into your account, then open the bookmarked link.
This will cause ReclaimPrivacy's Facebook privacy scanner to open right at the top of your current Facebook window. Within a few seconds, ReclaimPrivacy will scan through six areas of potential privacy concern and let you know how your account stacks up.

ReclaimPrivacy analyzes everything from your personal information controls to your "instant personalization" settings. It even checks account settings that affect what your friends could inadvertently share about you without your knowledge.

For each area, ReclaimPrivacy will give you a green ("good"), yellow ("caution"), or red ("insecure") ranking. If you hit yellow or red, it'll provide you with specific steps to fix the problem so you don't have to waste time searching for the right setting.

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5 Ways To Protect Your Facebook Account

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Reaching maximum privacy with your Facebook account now requires clicking through 50 different settings and over 170 different options. And that isn't even close to completely safeguarding your personal information.

Facebook's current privacy policy is about 5800 words. This makes it about 1200 words longer than the Constitution of the United States. How many of us are going to wade through that? It's impossible to achieve total privacy on Facebook, but there are ways to maximize your protection. Here are 5 ways to protect your Facebook account;

1. Hide your profile information from the public. It could be argued whether the average user needs to hide their profile information or not, but every child should be protected as much as possible. This may require parents to be proactive and check the settings for their children.

In the upper right hand of the Facebook page (either from your home page or profile page) Click Account > Privacy Settings > Personal Information and Posts. Make sure to adjust privacy for all 9 categories. Most of these should be set as "Only Friends", but you can set them to "Only Me".

Click the Back to Privacy button in the upper left of the screen. Click Contact Information. Adjust your privacy settings for all 8 of these categories. Most if not all should be set as "Only Friends".

Now Click Back to Privacy > Friends, Tags & Connections. Adjust all 10 categories. If you don't want information about you to leak to strangers, DO NOT set to "Everyone".

2. Protect yourself from Facebook ads. Yes, Facebook uses your information for advertising purposes and your friends may see your name in some advertising or may be able to see your actions to social ads.

To protect your information from ads, click Account > Account Settings > Facebook Ads and select "No One" beside Allow ads on platform pages to show my information to, and then scroll down to Show my social actions in Facebook Ads to and do the same.

3. Remove yourself from The Instant Personalization Pilot Program. Your profile information is shared with thid party web sites currently including Microsoft Docs, Pandora and Yelp.

In the upper right hand corner of the Facebook page, click Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites. Click Edit Setting beside Instant Personalization Program and uncheck the box at the bottom of the screen.

4. Control what information your friends may be sharing about you. Even if you uncheck the box for the Instant Personalization Pilot Program, your information may still be accessed by websites through your friends. Unless you block each individual website's applications. Your friends may be sharing your information with applications and third party websites that you don't even use. Note that ALL applications are able to access your Name, Profile Picture, Gender, as well as any information that is visible to Everyone.

Click Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites > What your friends can share about you and uncheck all of the boxes.

5. Monitor which devices may access your Facebook account. This tool was just released in the past week, but has not been advertised as of this post. After making this change, you will be asked to name the computer or device you are using to access Facebook. You will then receive an email with the name of the device used. This will allow you to know if someone logs into your account from another computer.

click Account > Account Settings > Account Security. Click "YES" below Would you like to receive notifications for logins from new devices?

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Facebook Altering User Profiles

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000

This last week, Facebook moved to provide “Instant Personalization” on partner Web sites, like Yelp, Microsoft Docs and Pandora. This stirred privacy concerns once again for Facebook users. But a related change is also being received poorly by users.

Facebook also began altering users’ profiles by asking them if they wanted to link information like current city, hometown, school and workplace history, and likes and interests to related Facebook Pages. The move could to push many Facebook users away from stricter privacy settings selected previously, since Facebook considers “connections” to Pages public information.

There have been thousands of complaints on the Facebook blog post protest page created by users. The complaint is about the weakening privacy and continuing commercialism on Facebook. explaining the changes and on a

This change has infuriated many users by deleting text they had entered about themselves in their profile. The ‘connections’ change Users allow the links to be made by the "Connections" modification without realizing their profiles will be extensively altered and their text deleted. But, there is a way to change these connections.

The Bottom Line:

Users can disconnect from a Page any time by visiting the Page and selecting “Unlike” on the bottom left or by clicking the pencil “Edit Information” icon in the Info section of their profile page, selecting “Page” and then clicking “Remove” underneath the photo. While editing a profile, users can also highlight certain connections by dragging and dropping the given Page above the fold and de-emphasize others by dragging and dropping them below the fold.

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Deactivating "Instant Personalization"

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:13:00 +0000

Facebook launched "Instant Personalization" along with other privacy changes last week. This change shares user information with third party web sites Yelp, Microsoft Docs and Pandora. It also opens the door to other partners and advertisers to glean more information about you.

Two nonprofit groups, in response to Facebook's privacy changes last week, put out messages to voice their opposition: The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a timeline of Facebook's privacy policy modifications over the years, and liberal activist group MoveOn.org launched a Facebook group called "Facebook, respect my privacy!".

"They've launched a new program that shares info about you and your friends with external websites--whether you want them to or not," the MoveOn.org group, which had over 14,000 members on Friday afternoon, explained. "They're calling it 'instant personalization.' We're calling it a major violation of your privacy. Again."

There are ways to stop personalization on the partner sites. You can opt out on the sites web page individually or you can opt out on the Facebook site itself. These options are not made clear on either the Facebook or partner web sites, but here is how you do it.

The Bottom Line:

When you first visit any of these three partner sites while logged into Facebook, you’ll see a blue bar appear at the top of the site letting you know that your experience is being personalized. You can choose to learn more, remove the personalized experience or click "x" to remove the bar.

If you don't want your experience personalized on these limited number of sites, you can opt out by clicking here. You can also navigate there by going to 'Account' > 'Privacy settings' > 'Applications and Websites' > 'Instant Personalization Pilot Program'

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Fix Your PC Problems For Free

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:07:00 +0000

There is a new service (currently in beta) from Microsoft providing diagnoses and fixes for common PC and connected devices. The free Fix It Center offers a set of online and offline tools for helping you fix your computer.

Consolidated into a single solution is a variety of support resources that have been scattered throughout Microsoft's web site and even in Windows itself. Windows version XP through Windows 7 are supported. Fix It Center will not only solve known problems, but scans your PC for potential problems and suggests fixes for them.

Fix It Center requires very little technical input. Just choose the category of the problem and it will launch the correct diagnosis program. The correction to some problems are automatic. Remember that this program is still under development and is for common problems. It may not work for the white elephant problems out there.

Here's how it works.

Set up Fix It Center by going to http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal/ and click the “Try It” button. This will download a small program.

Run the downloaded program and accept the licensing agreement. This will then start the download and installations of the full Fix It Center program.

The program will install several solutions based on the configuration or your PC. To take advantage of the full program you will need to setup an online account with Microsoft. This will give you not only the Fix It Center troubleshooter solutions and access to the Microsoft knowledge base. Clicking the Fix It Center icon on your desktop will launch the program and step you through the category choices, diagnosis and correction.

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Free Anti-virus Programs Worth Their Weight In Gold

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:50:00 +0000

Who doesn't like something for free? That's a rhetorical question. We all like freebies. Especially when they are great freebies.

There are a plethora of free anti-virus programs available, but knowing which to use and which to stay away from, is difficult. Many sites claim to provide free anti-virus software, but in actuality are malware programs themselves. How do you know who to trust and who to protect against? There is no easy way to find this out. You have to find someone you know and trust to give you the heads up.

Finding the right software for you, can be difficult, but I have two names for you. There are two names that provide antivirus software worth more than their weight in gold. It's important to have the name of two of the most trusted programs around when struggling to remove a virus or malware from your computer.

The First name is Microsoft. Your thinking, "Oh, no you didn't!". And I am saying "Yes, I did."
Microsoft Security Essentials, released in late 2009, is free and easy. Lightweight enough to run on older machines without paralyzing their performance. It's adept enough to handle most viruses and malware in the wild today.
Probably the best part of MSE is how simple it is to use. The user interface is really clear, with large buttons for the most basic functions. Very nice for someone who is not computer-savvy. There’s no professional version you can upgrade to. It’s even allowed for use in business situations. So, one size can fit all.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials.

The second is Malwarebytes. The malware software that bytes back. No matter what your default anti-virus, you need Malwarebytes too. It doesn’t run in your system background and constantly protect you, so you will need to run it manually when you run into a problem.
The interface is simple for beginners and robust enough for pros. Malwarebytes will usually take care of what other programs can’t. I have personally saved more than a few computers by running Malwarebytes. I keep this one on my flash drive, so I am ready to go, when I need to fix a computer. It's also free and easy to use.

Download Malwarebytes.

Obviously there are other programs out there. Others may argue that something may be better than what I have recommended here. I'm not going to argue. I'm just going to say, here are two great programs for getting rid of virus and malware that are worth their weight in gold, and not just because they don't weigh anything!
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Koob-Face Coming Round Again

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:37:00 +0000

Alert your mob bosses and bring your farm animals into the stable. Koob-face is rearing it's ugly head again and targeting Facebook and Twitter users.

Once again hackers are using messages on Facebook and Twitter to lure would-be victims to click on a link. They promise wealth, fame, fortune, the ability to help someone in trouble, and a myriad of other things to get you to click. One of the most recent scams is to make messages look like they are coming from a friend in trouble away from home. They request money be sent by wire. This scam hurts your friends as well as your credibility.

Also, they want you to click on a link to download a special program for viewing their content. This is really spyware. It infects your computer and then it sends the same deceptive message to all your Facebook friends.

Jeff Debrosse, a computer security specialist says, "Just one person getting an infection on a social networking site actually opens the door to thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, or millions getting infected".

"Koob-face" has been around for a while, but hackers are once again trying to lure gullable Facebook users to give up their personal information with new tricks, according to McAfee.

E-mails with a subject line of "Facebook Password Reset Confirmation! Customer Support" are sent saying that people's passwords on their Facebook accounts have been reset and that they should log in to a site to get their new credentials. But if the attachment is opened, it downloads several types of malicious software, including a program that steals passwords, McAfee said.

You can keep your computer secure by always checking out a link before clicking it (See- "Check Out The Links For Safety"), always use an up-to-date browser, which may recognize the newest threats, and by keeping your anti-virus software up to date.

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Check Out The Links For Safety!

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Check out the links! I'm not talking about a satellite link, not a sausage link, not even golf links. I'm talking about checking out web browser links to determine if they are safe or not. We receive links to all kinds of web sites in our email, Instant messages, and on our Facebook walls. Many of the links that we receive are actually phishing scams to either upload malicious software (malware) to your computer, or attempts to get access to your personal information.

Although we are wary of web links sent to us by strangers, we are inclined to trust web links and e-mail messages sent to us by friends and family. Creators of malware take advantage of us all, by appearing to come from the people we know. Malware sites draw traffic in an attempt to upload harmful software to your computer by using email and web links that take advantage of gaps in the browser or computer security. They try to entice the unsuspecting user to allow access to their computer by sometimes looking like a system message or security message from your own computer. Clicking the link, is the same as confirming permission for the evil intended web site to run programs on your computer.

So how do you check out a link before you click on it? The moment that you click the link, it may be too late to stop malware from attacking your computer. So, try using one of these sites to check out the links for safety.

Before you click it, copy and paste or type it into one of these sites to check if it's authentic.

1. Norton Safe Web - http://safeweb.norton.com/
2. McAfee SiteAdvisor - http://www.siteadvisor.com/
3. PhishTank - http://www.phishtank.com/
4. Online Link Scan - http://onlinelinkscan.com/
5 Dr. Web Online Check - http://online.us.drweb.com/?url=1

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Picking A Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:43:00 +0000

Image by Roberto Carlos Pecino via

Handpicking the right digital camera can be a daunting task. Picking the right camera can depend on the type of pictures to be taken and the size of the prints. Most people do not need the most sophisticated and most expensive camera on the market today. The typical user may not even print their pictures, but instead email them or download them to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, or another online site for friends and family to access them. In most cases the brand name can be a matter of preference. Cameras have 'so many' different features, but there are two which are the most important to consider when picking a new one.

The first, is the Megapixel rating of the camera. The number of pixels that a camera saves for an image determines the available size of the captured image. The more pixels the camera captures the larger an image can be printed, and the better the image quality for prints and on the computer screen. All else considered, the megapixel rating of the camera is the most important option.

The second most important option, is the optical zoom of the camera lens. Most digital cameras offer a certain amount of zoom using the optics of the lens, and a digital zoom. Optical zoom wins out over digital zoom every time. The amount of digital zoom the camera is capable of, is not important. A 3X optical zoom is the minimum serviceable for the typical user that generally takes 'people pictures'. If you wish to take photos of objects further away, you might want a higher optical zoom capability.

Choose which other options are most important to you. There may be options in lcd screen size, or low light capabilities in similar makes and models of camera. Take these into account in addition to the options mentioned above.

The Bottom Line;
1. The most important feature to look for in a digital camera is the megapixel rating. The higher the rating, the better your pictures will be.

2. The optical zoom is the second most important feature in which to base camera selection. As with megapixel rating, the higher the better.

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Facebook: Privacy Made Public

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:38:00 +0000

Where is the privacy in Facebook's "Privacy Policy"? The new policy allows more information to be available to the general public. A comparison of the new and old policies reveals this addition:

Certain categories of information such as your name, profile photo, list of friends and pages you are a fan of, gender, geographic region, and networks you belong to are considered publicly available to everyone, including Facebook-enhanced applications, and therefore do not have privacy settings. You can, however, limit the ability of others to find this information through search using your search privacy settings.

As of Christmas eve, 2009, I have been unable to find any way to privatize this information. You can limit the scope of your search privacy. By default the setting seems to be "Everyone". To change this, go to "Privacy Settings", and then click "Search". On this screen you can choose to allow searching your information with everyone, friends and networks, friends of friends, or friends. You may also "uncheck" the box which allows public search results by search engines, although the results of this change, are yet to be determined.

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Protecting Your Facebook Groups

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:06:00 +0000

Facebook has changed its formal Privacy Policy among other things, to say that "pages you are a fan of... and networks" are now public information. By default the pages and networks that you belong to, can now be seen by anyone. This could allow someone to find information about you without being in your friends list. You may not want just anyone to view this information.

You can change this by going to the top of the page and clicking "Settings", and then scroll to "Application Settings". In the following window, click "Edit Settings" next to the "Groups" category. You may then choose whom you would like to allow access to this information. If you do not wish for anyone else to have access to this information, set to "Only Me".

If you want, you can "Customize" your Edit Group Settings to allow only certain friends or networks to view the groups in which you belong. Using this feature allows you to include or exclude individual friends or groups. Clicking "Additional Permissions" allows you to keep your groups and pages from publishing to your wall stream and allows you to set for which group changes you get an email from Facebook.

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Facebook Changes Privacy Options

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Image by dannysullivan via Flickr

Chances are you may have seen the Facebook pop-up which asks you to update your privacy settings. In an ideal world these changes would be for the benefit of the user but, Facebook has changed it's privacy options in order to allow more information to be shared online. Their hope is that users will allow more of their information to be viewed by the masses and keep less information to themselves and specific friends.

These changes are not for the individual user's benefit. They are about generating more users and maximizing advertising. Facebook is hoping that the user will stay with the default settings given, in the security pop-up, and not change them to the "Old Settings" option provided.

Facebook insists that it has gone out of its way to inform its users that the privacy settings were changing. It also points out that the privacy settings can be kept, just as they are now if the user specifies that they are to be kept. The problem in the eyes of the user groups is that the default or recommended settings opens the profiles up to many more viewers.

Bottom Line; Do not keep the recommended settings, but do check the boxes to keep your old settings intact. Routinely check your privacy settings.

Digital Video Recorders; WMA or MP3?

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:25:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Leigh writes, "My company wants to record interviews for later distribution, which file format should my digital voice recorder save files as?"

Recording voice for later distribution, should be saved as MP3 and not WMA format. The simple reason being that the MP3 format is more commonly recognized, and can be burned to an MP3 CD-Rom, for distributing in the workplace to either Windows or Macintosh computer. Typically voice recording is done to convert to text, but saving MP3's for music or lecture listening is nice, especially when the digital voice recorder is an MP3 player as well.

More important, are the other features of the digital voice recorder;

1. Recording Time - The longer, the better, but don't be fooled by the manufacturers times. Be sure to check how long you can record in high quality mode. Voice-to-print or voice recognition software needs a high quality recording for transcription.

2. Computer Connectivity - Being able to connect to your personal computer is a must-have. Make sure that the digital voice recorder is compatible with a USB interface. This allows files to be read on the computer as well as allowing for digital voice recognition.

3. File Formats - Being able to save your recordings in different formats is a plus. Some digital voice recorders only have options to save as WAV or WMA, but include software that will allow conversion to an MP3. Saving as an MP3 is better, but saving as other formats as well, is a definite plus.

Facebook; Arranging Feeds To Get More Than Your 250 Friends Worth

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Facebook feeds show you updates for 250 of your closest friends. Facebook "friends" that is. And what happens if you have more than 250 friends? Well, Facebook somewhat randomly determines which feeds to show you.

While Facebook cannot read your mind, this is still no way to treat your friends. So, I submit that using "lists" is the answer to the problem. Using lists, you can quickly stroll through different segments of your friends and see what's up.

To change the "250" for your Status and news feeds, click on "News Feed", then click "Live Feed". Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Edit Options". Now you will see two boxes. One, to show more friends, and essentially add them to the live stream. No matter how Facebook determines the top 250, they will be there if they have updates. You can enter them by name, or scroll through your list of friends to add them to the max. 250. The other box is to purposely remove certain people pages or applications from the stream. By tweaking your live feed stream, you can make sure that you do not miss news from the friends you care about most.

Use "Add List" to further tweak lists of friends by what ever criteria you wish.

Happy Facebooking.

~ Andy

Facebook, Creating New Lists and Rearranging Feeds

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Many people state that they do not like the "New" Facebook layout. As an interface designer, I can appreciate the hard work, the Fb programmers are putting into it, and like the results as a whole.
One of the biggest changes and complaints, concerns the use of "feeds". Most people have not grasped the versatility at their disposal for better feeds integration. The new feeds options are actually better, because you can create a feed for any list or any one and are not limited to the last 250 random updates made (TBD tomorrow).

You can create lists of friends by clicking on the "Friends" button, and choosing a person to add to the group. Click "Add To List" on the right side of the screen and create a new list name if needed. Then when you click to add to list for the rest of the group, scroll down to the list name you created. *You can also create a new list from the "Feeds" list, by clicking "More" and then clicking "Add List"

Use your new lists as additional Status/News feeds. On your home page, at the bottom of the list of feeds, click "More". Now you can rearrange your news feeds in any order, including moving "News Feed" or "Status Update" to the top of the list to make it the default.

Now you can check the overall news, or the feed for your favorite list(s), all you want, by clicking on their name in the left hand column.

Happier Facebooking.

~ Andy

How to Manually Manage Your Passwords

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Managing passwords is a daunting feat, even in this day and age of one-click password programs. And, especially in this day, where every site or service wants you to create an account with a user name and password. That is why I have used the following password maintenance plan for the last 20 years, and still believe it to be beneficial today.

Start by creating five tiers for password usage. Number 5 is the highest level and hardest, most secure password. Number 1 is the easiest to remember password that is used on the least secure situations. Never write any of these passwords down. The point is to make them easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.

Computer username and password, is your highest level security and should be a minimum of 8 to 15 alpha-numeric characters with some caps. Do not use real words in and of themselves, or numeric sequences. One way to make this password or any other password would be to open the dictionary or the phonebook and blindly pick a listing. You might come out with "lawnmower" either on page 944, or with 944 in phone number.

Now change characters in the word to something similar to "L4wNm0w3R944", or "L4wN944m0w3R". I now have two different passwords that can be used in any of the top tiers of my security system. The first makes the second easier to remember and visa versa. (please note that this is only an example and you should create your own passwords). In order to make some passwords easier to remember, start with the highest level and then pare down to use for a less secure level.

Also, make up different usernames for each level of security. This will not only make it easier to remember the individual passwords, but makes it more difficult for a hacker to break into your accounts, since they will have to decrypt the user name and password.

5. Highest level of security is reserved for your computer name and password. You and only you know this password and it is never written down or given to ANY other person. It could be one of the two passwords similar to the example above. It should be changed or twice a year or more frequently.

4. Second highest level for use on Company business account and/or your email account. Never write this password down, or give it away. It should be changed once or twice a year.

3. This is the password used to log into other hardware in your home, such as a router or a server. This password should be changed at least once a year. Levels three an four might be reversed for some users, as they may feel that the router is more important than email. This is up to the individual.

2. Third highest level is the password used for most social networking site(s). If you allow your browser to save passwords, then this password should be changed very frequently.

1. Lowest level of security, should be a minimum of 6 to 8 alpha-numeric characters, and is nothing similar to any of the other security level passwords. This is your throw away password. This is the password used when registering on websites, etc, in which you may only need to log on once, in order to redeem some special discount, etc.

I also use a throw away user name and password below number 1. I have no worries about having this account compromised. I have a made up name and password that I use when I am unsure of a websites, authenticity and or spam policies. If I start getting unsolicited mail, etc. directed to this username, I know that one of those sites has given it out, and I throw it away and make up another.

Hacking Away At Twitter and Facebook.

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:39:00 +0000

Yes, hackers are targeting Facebook and Twitter with their . What appears to be a legitimate message from one of your friends, is actually a hacker's attempt to get you to download malicious software to your computer. The hackers are hoping that people will see a reference to one of their friends and fore go the common sense they usually apply to surfing the web. Once clicked the link starts downloading malicious software to your computer.

Don't think because you are using a particular computer, web browser, or virus protection, that you are free to go clicking links willy nilly! These types of attacks are brand name immune. They don't care what you are driving, or how much insurance you have. They are attacking with code that can run you over, even on the internet highway.

Just because a link has the "friendly" look and feel, doesn't mean it is safe. A friends account may be infected. Spoofing a Twitter account or Facebook application is not at all uncommon. Use common sense when clicking links. If you are not sure, don't click. Contact your friend and ask them if it is on the up and up. This holds true for blogs, regular web pages, and any social networking tools, including Facebook and Twitter.

Twitter, following it's own advice, is filtering links - including shortened url's. The message “Oops! Your tweet contained a URL to a known malware site!” pops up and the message cannot be posted. Facebook is also blocking suspect links that are reported a malicious. But, keeping up with deviant links is not instantaneous or exact.

There Is NO EASY MONEY On Google!

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:56:00 +0000

The advertisements, tweets, and emails abound. Each touting an easy way to make money on Google. They show the logos for Google, Yahoo!, and as seen on NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, etc. on each of their web links. So how can this be wrong? How can it be a fake or a scam?

If you visit the networks mentioned, you will find mention of these money making schemes. You will find them touted as SCAMS. You’ll have to admit that the scammers are good at what they do. They put everything in writing, and from what can be seen by the naked eye, the majority, if not all, is true. So what is the problem.

The problem is that they are the only ones getting rich and it’s not by just entering links into google. Read the fine print and you will find that in addition to the small fee for your book and/or software there is an additionally ‘small’ monthly fee.

This is not the first scam of this type. For more information and history of this online scam, go to http://snopes.com/fraud/employment/google.asp.

How to Avoid Being the Victim of 'Work From Home' Scams:

1. Never pay anyone to hire you, not even if it is presented as buying necessary training or other materials, obtaining required certification, or registering with some database of other workers.
Remember, if the procedure involves sending your money to “so called” employers, it's most likely a scam.
2. Contact your Better Business Bureau, if you have questions about the sincerity or legitimacy of a job listing. It always is a good idea to check out any prospective employer or employee, for that matter.
3. Examine your credit card and bank account statements every month. Always look for unauthorized charges and immediately challenge any and all items you think are bogus.
4. Always read the fine print!

Does My Computer Have The Flu and How Do I Treat It?

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:46:00 +0000

I don't know, does your computer have virus symptoms? Use this information to diagnose and prevent infection of your own computer. Or, you could ask using "please". :?)

Common malware infection symptoms may include:

Your computer seems significantly slow.
Home page in web browser changed automatically.
Strange problems within Windows – things just don’t seem to work normal.
Unknown icons on your desktop.
Excessive pop-up activity.
Unusual messages that display warnings on your screen and prompt you to immediately purchase random software to clean-up the problems.
The connection lights on your high speed modem blink excessively, even though your not using the internet.
Common items such as the start button, mouse pointer, desktop icons, etc disappear from the screen.

Preventative steps include:

Install a proven security software suite. When shopping for security software make sure that it includes firewall protection.
Run a complete virus scan on the computer weekly. This operation is performed through your security software, many of which also offer the ability to schedule automatic scanning.
Make sure that the virus definitions for your security software are up to date. Most security software is setup to automatically update the definitions, but some require user initiation of updates.
Be sure to renew your security software subscriptions. If you purchased your security software, the subscription is typically valid for one year, at which time the subscription must be renewed, or the software will fail to work properly, thus leaving your computer system vulnerable to malware attacks.
Run Windows Updates. This can be setup to happen automatically or manually. Either option is the user’s choice, but the updates need to be downloaded and installed. These updates can close the door to many potential threats to your computer’s operating system and programs.
Be careful and cautious with Internet use. Clicking on every “free” offer that is available will put you at risk for malware infections. Freeware software not only gives you “free” use of the software, but can also initiate “free” excessive pop-ups and other malicious activity that the user is commonly unaware of. It is always good practice to purchase needed software from a trusted vendor.
Caution should also be practiced when opening email. Only open email or except attachments from trusted sources, and delete any items that you are unsure about.

Facebook Tip; Keep Your Friends Close And The "Others" Far Away

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:22:00 +0000

Who can you trust?

Usually if a Facebook user is in your friends list, the likelihood of it being a scammer is very low. There have been instances of hacked user accounts, but usually this is done by someone who knows the user and may be playing a trick on them. We hope.

The issue now is someone or 'ones' is creating fake Facebook accounts and using them to distribute malware. This is usually done with a link to a video. Normally you get a pop-up that tells you to download additional software to view the video. Wala, you just downloaded malware that can completely take over your computer or render it nearly useless.

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said, “We’re working to identify the handful of fake accounts that were created and disable them. The URL contained in the profiles has already been blacklisted by the major web browsers and blocked from being shared on Facebook. We use an outside captcha company called reCAPTCHA (http://recaptcha.net), which was recently acquired by Google and is a very well-regarded captcha provider.

To beat hackers, do at least these three things;

• MAKE SURE YOUR PASSWORD is at least 8 - alpha and numeric characters in length and does not spell anything, and/or contain a sequence of numbers or letters.

• NEVER accept friend requests from people you don't know. Some people try to get as many 'friends' as they can, but the downside could be getting your account hacked.

• NEVER OPEN or authorize your computer/program to open any file that you ARE NOT CERTAIN IS SAFE. If a web page asks you to download something to view their page, it probably is not a kosher request.

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Beware Of Mac Malware Attacks and Trojans

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

With the release of the new OS 10.6 (now 10.6.1) There was never any doubt that hackers would try to reap benefits of the upgrade and new user community. Many people (no, not me) will or have undoubtedly looked or tried to get a free copy of the new operating system. BEWARE!

"Information Week reports, there are web sites claiming to offer free copies of Macintosh OS 10.6, but they are actually trying to hack your computer.

With regard to security, Trend Micro said that one its researchers had discovered several Web sites advertising free copies of Snow Leopard. What's actually offered is malware, specifically, a DNS changing Trojan known as OSX_JAHLAV.K.

"Once executed, OSX_JAHLAV.K decrypts codes, which include a script that downloads other malicious scripts," said Trend Micro's Bernadette Irinco in a blog post. "The said script then alters the DNS configuration and includes two additional IPaddresses in its DNS server. Users are thus possibly redirected to phishing sites and other fraudulent sites. In fact, some of these bogus sites are reportedly hosting FAKEAV (rogue antivirus) variants and components."

According to Trend Micro, OSX_JAHLAV.K may be downloaded without the user's knowledge following a visit to a malicious Web site. The Trojan, however, has a "low" overall risk rating. From Information Week.

Remember that there are no free copies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, or Microsoft 7 for that matter.

Save Yourself, Update Your Adobe Acrobat Software!

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:28:00 +0000

Adobe addressed a list of 29 security-related flaws in Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9 this week.

Adobe calls the new 9.2 updater fixes critical for security issues that for both Mac and Windows users.  According to an Adobe security bulletin, "These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

"  The security issues also affect older versions of Acrobat and Adobe Reader. Since some users aren't able to upgrade to Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9, the company released Acrobat 8.1.7 and 7.1.4 along with Adobe Reader 8.1.7 and 7.1.4.  The updates are available for download at the Adobe Support Web site.

The Adobe support site is "a little bit" confusing to navigate and determine the right update for your computer and operating system, But... the easiest way to upgrade your copy of Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is to launch the program, Click on the "Help" pull down, and choose "Check for Updates".

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Your Facebook Applications Are Attacking Your Computer

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I've written about hacked Facebook accounts on several occasions. Typically the hacker compromises the user account. Now due to Adobe security vulnerabilities many are getting caught on the wrong side of the tracks when it comes to internet and computer security.

Hacked Facebook accounts are not unusual but Roger Thompson, chief research officer at AVG, says "this is the first time I've seen Facebook applications hacked," and said the firm traced back several Facebook applications that had been hacked, to a Russian site which appears to be taking advantage of the compromised Facebook applications to launch attacks against victims' computers based on unpatched Adobe software vulnerabilities.

Several Facebook apps seem to be vulnerable to the unpatched Adobe software hack. the first encounter was with the application CityFireDepartment. In addition to CityFireDepartment, which AVG is cautioning Facebook users not to visit until "it's cleaned up," Thompson says. Other compromised Facebook applications also include MyGirlySpace, Ferraritone, Mashpro, Mynameis, Pass-it-on, Fillinthe and Aquariumlife.

If your computer does not have the Adobe patch to plug the exploit, and you are using one of these applications, then, it's installing the exploit, initially rogue antispyware but probably also a Trojan," Thompson says. AVG has informed Facebook directly about AVG's findings but he noted it's not simple to identify who maintains each of the Facebook applications.

Thompson has chronicled AVG's findings in a blog item. The attack site, which appears to be in Russia, may also be associated with several other Web-based attacks, he adds.

Original story - www.networkworld.com/nwlookup.jsp?rid=188832

See this post, Save Yourself, Update Your Adobe Acrobat Software!
to read about the Adobe hacks and how to avoid the attacks.

The bottom line is;
The Adobe support site is "a little bit" confusing to navigate and determine the right update for your computer and operating system, But... the easiest way to upgrade your copy of Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is to launch the program, Click on the "Help" pull down, and choose "Check for Updates".

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The Top 4 Ways To Protect Yourself Online

noreply@blogger.com (AgainstTheGraine) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:08:00 +0000

Internet security is more about what you do to protect yourself than what anti-virus program you happen to use. Lifehack has a list of 8 keys to Internet security, and it serves as a good reminder about how to keep your PC, your data, and your identity safe online.

Be sure to check out the article for all the details, but here are the best bits:

Use a router. A router acts as a hardware firewall to compliment your software firewall. You should use one, even if your internet provider provides a cable or other connection modem.
Don’t open attachments. This is SO obvious, but people just ignore it anyway. Unless you know who sent you the email, you should discard the message immediately and NEVER open an attachment from someone you don't know.
Don’t click links in e-mail. There is just no good reasons to click a link in an email message from any of the professional businesses you deal with. Why would you need to click a link in message from your bank? Open your web browser and navigate to the Web site from your favorites to avoid phishing scams. Hyperlinks are just way too risky.
Install all software security updates. Make sure that your computer is always up to date with the latest operating system updates. Let Microsoft and Windows Update do its thing. You should set your anti-virus program to automatically update it's definitions on a daily basis as well.

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Hacking Away At Twitter and Facebook.

There Is NO EASY MONEY On Google!

Does My Computer Have The Flu and How Do I Treat It?

Facebook Tip; Keep Your Friends Close And The "Others" Far Away

Beware Of Mac Malware Attacks and Trojans

Save Yourself, Update Your Adobe Acrobat Software!

Your Facebook Applications Are Attacking Your Computer

The Top 4 Ways To Protect Yourself Online