Passwords – with a twist

Here is a blog post of 600 words on password security Password security is one of the most important aspects of online safety. A strong password can protect your personal and financial information from hackers and identity thieves. However, many people still use weak or common passwords that are easy to guess or crack. In …
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Another online security risk?

Here’s something that might increase any feelings of paranoia that you experience around computing and cyberspace Researchers in the USA (Zoom on the Keystrokes: Exploiting Video Calls for Keystroke Interference Attacks) have shown that it is possible to analyse a recording of a video call (such as a Zoom, Teams, or Skype call) and use …
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Windows 10 Keylogger

If you accept the defaults in Windows 10, Microsoft might be able to see everything you type If you install Windows 10 and accept its default settings (as you just try to get the job done in the shortest time possible), then you will be giving Microsoft permission to record every single keystroke you make …
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Over-protective MAC?

Have you ever downloaded a new program onto your Mac, only to be told by the operating system that it can’t be opened because it’s from an unidentified developer? Mac OSX computers are more protective than Windows computers when it comes to what’s allowed on your computer and that has obvious security benefits. Nevertheless, it …
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Creating a Microsoft Recovery Code

Like a spare key for your Microsoft account? Microsoft accounts are becoming more important. All downloads of purchases from Microsoft require us to have an account, access to the Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage requires one and, if we do as Microsoft would like us to do, every time we turn on a Windows 8 or …
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Firefox Add-ons for Online Privacy

We can make a stab at reducing the information we give away in our web browsing When my computer support clients ask me which internet browser I prefer I say “Firefox“. The main reason is that there is a wide range of “add-ons” to tweak how it works. In particular, I am interested in add-ons …
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Multi Factor Authentication

We all know that passwords are a nuisance – but necessary I’m not going to bang on again that you shouldn’t use the same password for more than one account. And we all know that recommended passwords are getting longer and more complicated. It seems to me that there’s a general “average” of what is …
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GameOver Zeus and Cryptolocker

Is the NCA trying to panic us into action? Last week the National Crime Agency (NCA) claimed a huge victory over cyber criminals after they had managed to take control of a massive network of “bots”. Bots are anyone’s computers that have been infected with malware that allows the criminals to use them to further …
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Doubts about LinkedIn

I’m having serious doubts about whether it’s a good idea to keep a LinkedIn account Regular readers will know that I’m no great fan of social networking sites. I think they are devious, manipulative, insecure, and can not be trusted with a tenth of the personal data that people entrust to them. Nevertheless, for about …
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