Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Most successful attacks against individuals do not involve sophisticated hacking. They exploit a handful of predictable human behaviors, and closing those gaps blocks a disproportionate share of real-world attack paths.
This post covers five specific habits, the exact threat each one blocks, and what to do if you suspect you have already been compromised.
Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?
Sign up for my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.
Question from Tina: I’ve noticed the lights on my modem are blinking more or less constantly.
In fact, they even blink when I’m not using a web browser, checking my email or doing anything else on the Internet.
Is it normal for all those lights to be constantly blinking or should I be worried? [Read more…]
Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?
Sign up for my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!
If you’re like most Internet users, your email inbox probably contains several old messages that contain the usernames and passwords for some of your online accounts.
As you probably know, many services send new subscribers/customers a welcome email containing the username and password they’ll need to enter in order to log into the account. [Read more…]
Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?
Sign up for my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!
Have you ever forgotten the password to one of your online accounts and clicked on the “Forgot password?” link in order to reset your password?
If so, you might have been prompted to input the answer to the security question(s) you created when you opened the account.
Security questions are intended to identify you as the legitimate account owner in the event that you forget your password and need to reset it.
What’s more, they are also sometimes used as a second level of security to augment the security provided by the password. If you can’t answer the security question(s), you won’t be allowed to log in to the account, even if you know the password. [Read more…]
Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?
Sign up for my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!
Question from Charise: I read that with all the hacking going on we need to check the strength of our passwords with an online password checker.
I did a Google search for the term “password checker” and a bunch of them came up. The thing is, I’m wondering if it’s safe to use them.
I’m a little leery of typing my passwords into a form on a website that I don’t know anything about.
Are those password checker websites safe to use? [Read more…]