CyberSafe Alert 2019 Edition 3

Is It Safe To Hit Send Now?

Welcome to the third CyberSafe alert edition of 2019.  Today’s alert focuses on the perennial business (and sometimes personal) problem of how to send large files securely, especially when your email allowance is too small to allow it.

In the CyberSafe book we mention some specific secure tools as well as techniques for safely transmitting and receiving confidential data to keep it safe from cyber-crooks.  For this alert we’re going to talk about a tool that isn’t mentioned in the book, but is also effective at keeping your sent files safe. That tool is Firefox Send.

Firefox send is a simple add-on to the Firefox browser that allows you to send files of up to 2.5Gb in size securely if you are logged in with a Firefox account, and 1Gb otherwise.  The great thing about Send (besides the obvious security features) is its simplicity. To send your files, all you have to do is drag and drop your files into the Send page, or select the file from your computer.  Once you done that, give it a secure password (take a look at Cybersafe Alert edition 2 on the unhackable password), and then hit send - simples.

You may be thinking, why do I need to use this service when I’ve already got alternatives like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box etc.? Well as explained in the Cybersafe book in more detail that we can go into in this newsletter, those services are only secure up to a point, so it depends on how secure you need your documents to be, and how much you value your privacy.

Not everyone out there is out to get hold of your private business documents or engage in industrial espionage, but it’s nice to know that if needed, there are simple ways to protect your privacy.

Following the advice in CyberSafe should go a long way to keeping you safe online.  As we like to say at the CyberSafe alert - Don’t Be Scared; Be Prepared

 Want a regular briefing about the newest Cyber threats?  Subscribe to the Cybersafe Alert now!

 

If you can't wait for the next CyberSafe Alert to tell you how to protect yourself online, get CyberSafe the
 book.  It's packed with the useful information and strategies you need to keep yourself, your family, and
 your business safe online.

 

Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure that the content provided in this post is accurate and helpful for our readers. However, this is not an exhaustive treatment of the subjects. No liability is assumed for losses or damages due to the information provided. You are responsible for your own choices, actions, and results.

CyberSafe Alert 2019 Edition 2

The Unhackable Password?

Welcome to the second CyberSafe alert of 2019. It seems not a week goes by without yet another report of passwords being hacked because the unwitting victim used the name of their favourite pet, child, car (insert favourite thing here...) being used as their password. That’s the subject of this edition of the cybersafe alert

In the CyberSafe book we talk about the various ways to safeguard your passwords. These include multi-factor authentication, password managers, cold storage etc. In this cyber alert however the focus is on how to create easy to remember passwords that are tough to hack.

The problem with a lot of sites that ask you to create strong passwords is that all too often these passwords are so complicated that you end up forgetting them yourself, which kind of defeats the whole object of the exercise.

One straightforward way to create a memorable strong password is to make your password a sentence. A strong password is a sentence that is at least 12-14 characters long. Focus on positive sentences or phrases that you like to think about, and that are easy to remember for example, “Come0nYou$purs”. On many sites you can even use spaces, so for example “Come On You $purs”. You can play around by substituting letters for numbers and symbols like the previous two examples to make the phrase even stronger.

An even stronger alternative is to think of a sentence or phrase that you can easily remember. For example, “Simon really loves Italian red wine in the summertime, because he goes to Italy every year!” Then you could use that sentence as a code by inserting the first letter in each word as the password: SrlIrwits,bhgtIey! and then make it more secure by adding/substituting numbers and special characters for the letters. 5rlIrw1t$,bhg7I3y! That’s a very secure password, AND it’s a LOT easier to remember. It would take centuries for a supercomputer to crack that one. Or at least a lot longer than the name of your favourite pet!


Hopefully you’ll avoid being hacked by using one of these methods to secure your passwords.

Following the advice inCyberSafe should go a long way to keeping you safe online. As we like to say at the CyberSafe alert - Don’t Be Scared; Be Prepared


Want a regular briefing about the newest Cyber threats? Subscribe to the Cybersafe Alert now!

 

If you can't wait for the next CyberSafe Alert to tell you how to protect yourself online, get CyberSafe the book. It's packed with the useful information and strategies you need to keep yourself, your family, and your business safe online.

 

Disclaimer 
Every effort has been made to ensure that the content provided in this post is accurate and helpful for our readers. However, this is not an exhaustive treatment of the subjects. No liability is assumed for losses or damages due to the information provided. You are responsible for your own choices, actions, and results.

CyberSafe Alert 2019 Edition 1

Are Your Toys Spying On You?

Welcome to the first CyberSafe alert of 2019. We trust you all had a safe and prosperous holiday season and are looking forward to the rest of 2019.

 

Accompanying the holiday season more often than not is a wide variety of presents, and more likely than not these days, those presents will be electronic is some form or other. That’s the focus of this post holiday CyberSafe alert.

 

In the CyberSafe book we talk about the Internet of Things (IoT), and how so many consumers are not even aware of how many of their electronic goods are connected to the internet in one way or another. Not only are they connected to the internet, but a lot of these devices have wide open security that allows them to be hijacked.

 

A recent case that clearly demonstrates this danger is that of the British security consultant jailed for effectively taking a whole country (Liberia) offline. He brought down Liberia’s primary telecoms provider, by hacking into and using -ironically- cheap security cameras with minimal password protection to send so much data traffic to the telecoms company that their servers were overwhelmed. This example alone should demonstrate how easy it is for an e-intruder to enter your home by hacking into your shiny new presents. Think it can’t happen to you because you don’t have cheap security cameras? Well, let me give you some other examples:

 

The baby monitors transmitting a live feed onto the internet for all to see

Your childs smart teddy bear that can be hijacked

The car that allows hackers to take control of its systems remotely

The printers that were hijacked and used to gain access to small business networks

 

Once in control of a toy, a hacker could have access to your smart TVs, mobile phones, computers, tablets, gaming systems, in fact potentially anything connected to your families or your businesses network.

 

But, here at the CyberSafe alert, we’re not interested in scaring you away from all things electronic but in giving you actionable advice to protect yourself. So here goes. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your business if you have IoT connected devices:

 

• Attach a security device like Bitdefenders Box or Winston to help protect your network
• Where possible, lock down IoT applications and operating systems. Just like any server, the device should have the absolute minimum of network services. Your smart TV may need to use DNS, but your smart baby monitor? Not so much
• Check your device documentation. If it allows you to change the default password, make sure you do. Most of these default passwords are either easy to guess or public knowledge
• Make sure that the contact information for all of your devices are up-to-date including an email address regularly used to receive security updates and related notifications
• Confirm all your devices and their mobile applications are set to automatic updating to help maximise protection. Review their sites for the latest firmware patches. If they are not automatically updated, follow the instructions to manually update them
• Review the privacy policies, and practices of your devices, including data collection and data sharing with third parties. Your settings can be inadvertently changed during updates. Reset as appropriate to reflect your preferences
• Review devices' warranty and support policies. If they are no longer supported with patches and updates, disable the device’s connectivity or discontinue usage of the device
• Before discarding, returning or selling any device, remove any personal data and reset it to factory settings. Disable the associated online account and delete any associated data
• Review privacy settings on your mobile devices including location tracking, cookies, contact sharing, bluetooth, microphone and other settings. Set all your device and applications to prompt you before turning on and sharing and data

 

Do these things and it will go a long way in keeping you safe from hackers. As we like to say at the CyberSafe alert - Don’t Be Scared; Be Prepared

Want a regular briefing about the newest Cyber threats?  Subscribe to the Cybersafe Alert now!

If you can't wait for the CyberSafe Alert to tell you how to protect yourself online, get CyberSafe the book.  It's packed with the useful information and strategies you need to keep yourself, your family, and your business safe online.

 

Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure that the content provided in this newsletter is accurate and helpful for our readers. However, this is not an exhaustive treatment of the subjects. No liability is assumed for losses or damages due to the information provided. You are responsible for your own choices, actions, and results.