security

What happened to us? We’ve been assimilated.

~ Ron Walker ~ 30 Comments

One of the benefits of life in the slow lane, is the time to sit and ponder the world. When going slow, you can see more around you.

What happened, to us. Once a very cautious and independent society, we have become lazy, and dependent, allowing others to decide what is good for us. This didn’t occur overnight, it has taken years, but it has worked pretty well. I’m not here for fear-mongering, just sharing my observations from slightly outside. Sometimes, it’s like living a Sci-Fi dream. People being controlled by objects, instead of the other way around, to the point of endangering themselves, and others. Texting while driving, operating equipment while texting (distracted).

I’m 67 years old, I’m the odd ball. Why? Maybe because I don’t have a smart phone within reach 24/7, yes I own one, but I control it, not the other way around. I bought and paid for my computer, I want to decide what communication comes in and out of it. Paranoid? Yes, and no. If wanting to protect myself is paranoid, then they can call me paranoid. I prefer oddball.

That switch was finally thrown

There was a time, when we could all control what came in and out of our machines. Slowly companies made things “convenient for us”. If we allowed them permission, they would handle the updates for us, and even collect information about any problems found, and store/share the findings We learned what the fine print of our operating systems meant. It was always there, but who reads 30 pages of legal jumbo when you think you own it. Years and years were spent wondering when the switch would be thrown. We all thought you paid for the software, but the fine print which no one reads, always said we were really leasing the right to use it. That switch was finally thrown after many years, with Windows 10. You now get updates whether you want them or not, ads displayed on your desktop. Your OS sends information back home, unless you dig deep and ferret it out. Most is on by default. Facebook, can even track those that don’t use Facebook. Regulatory bodies seem to look the other way.

Did you know (some of you do)? That your computer happily shares your bandwidth to provide updates to others? This can slow some older machines down, and cost money if you’re on metered service. It can be turned off, but it is on by default. Nice of them to use your computer and Internet you pay for, to help provide their software to others.

Some are truly addicted.

I’m not perfect, just have my head stuck outside the bubble a little. We’ve gone from having fairly decent control over our Internet lives, to sharing our most personal information on social media. Some are truly addicted. Many of us out there are. I’ve watched 70+ adults in medical waiting rooms, sitting right under the “Do not use phones” sign, talking or playing on the phone.

Just observations, shared on a Sunday morning. From Life in the Slow Lane.
Thanks to, Pete of “beetleypete” for jogging my memory to write this, after reading his ‘Anonymous’, Blog Comments, and Suspicious Sites post.

Comments always welcome,

Keep your Blog updated, avoid problems. PSA

~ Ron Walker ~ 8 Comments

One of the worst things for your Blog, is not updating. While I really don’t care for auto-updating on some things, (that is just an opinion of mine) it is a good practice on sites that are not is use much. If you’ve tired of blogging, taking a long break, or have just stopped. Take a moment now and again to visit the old site. Put it in maintenance mode, or take it offline. 

You are the best defense

There are those on keyboards, that for whatever reason get a perverse pleasure out of destroying others work, just to show you they can. Some do it for profit, some just do it out of meanness. You are the best defense against these things. All the security in the world is worthless, if it’s not in use. Not keeping your plugins, or sites core updated, is a recipe for disaster. 

If posts are very old,

Seldom used sites, are targeted by those wishing to hone their hacking skills. The same way a burglar looks for homes newspapers strewn on the porch. If posts are very old, then there is a good chance that the site owner hasn’t been around, or kept crucial components up to date. I believe WordPress hosting (someone correct me if I’m wrong) auto updates blog sites to the latest version, along with any plugins they allow you to use. “If” you host your site (self-hosted) on another host, it may fall on you to be sure your blog is updated. I’m self-hosted. I must make sure the site and plugins are up to date.

The hackers, may have been just practicing, or

This post was prompted by a slew of emails I received this morning. A very nice couple in another country I had followed at one time. It appears like someone managed to hack into their blog since September this year, and for some odd reason went back to categories of 2017 and edited many, many posts to contain a long spilling ramble about using advertising. But no link to the advertising they left. Weird. Followers receive emails, that just lead to the junk posted. The hackers, may have been just practicing, or they may have left a program running silently for later.

This is not to say, that the blogger/s are to blame or lax in updating. You have to remember, that nothing is truly safe, from those with the skills and tools. As I tell others, it’s not if you get hacked in your lifetime, but how bad.

So take that moment, even if you don’t feel like blogging or reading. Visit your site on a semi-regular basis, make sure it doesn’t need attention, place it in maintenance if need be.  Please, don’t leave low hanging fruit for cretins. 

Comments, questions, always welcomed.

Stop hiding my password from me! I can’t remember what’s under a zillion *********’s

~ Ron Walker ~ 21 Comments

This has always disturbed me to no end. Devices hiding MY password, from ME!

In the infancy of the computer age, all the way through today. They taught you two basic things. Protect your password from others, don’t use the same password on multiple accounts. In working environments this made sense. In other situations, not so much. The geniuses  thought if they hid the password as it was typed on the screen, then someone behind you, could not see and steal your password. Thus, a “Star” was born (An asterisk actually).

Never mind the fact they could watch you type out your password on the keys. Of course, polite people turn their heads, or turn around as someone is using a password. Or a sneaky key-logger program could capture your passwords as you typed them asterisks or not. It records the keys pressed, not what shows on the screen.  Showing the Asterisk in a workplace environment may be a good idea, not so much in our own privacy. If someone I don’t know is standing behind me, in my house, then they have a bigger problem than just seeing my password.

Password History

  • Passwords were simple, it wasn’t a smart thing, but simple. abcd, 1234, flower, ford, etc. There were far fewer threats in those days.
  • Companies would actually assign passwords like  (first/last name initials and employee number).
  • Computers became more important, and we were told our passwords were too easy to guess. Hacking programs could find the password in milliseconds. We needed letters and numbers.
  • We were told that they needed to be over 8 characters, made of all manner of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
  • We now have evolved into something like  wuGqF3yqA3o*CAu  (randomly generated for an example, not an actual password).

Password managers

People with multiple phones, computers and other devices they own, need to remember these ultra complex passwords. So password Managers were born. What happened to the cardinal rule, “Don’t share your password with anyone”. They will store your password/s for you, and insert them as you visit your websites. Really convenient, but what happens if someone hacks the password manager site. Or hacks a large website you do business with. Then you must start the process over, making new passwords. So we hide them from our own sight, but hand them over to a total stranger to keep for us, and hope they are secure from attacks.
2017 Data Breach of OneLogin. All US customers emails, passwords stolen.

I get way too frustrated trying to remember if I hit the wrong key by accident, little stars staring at me are no help, and some programs, don’t display anything while you type the password. How about giving the user the option, especially in a private setting, of default showing the password as you type it. Turn it on or off if needed. It’s 2018, why are we still hiding passwords from ourselves?

What are your feelings on “Staring at the Stars” (Asterisks) trying to use your password.

Comments always welcome,

Massive Global Ransomware Attack Underway

~ Ron Walker ~ 19 Comments

This is a late post, I was prompted to do it after seeing it mentioned on the news again this evening.

A form of Ransomware seems to be gaining momentum. Please make sure that you are up to date on any Windows updates. I would recommend extra careful Internet usage practices for a while. Resist opening, or clicking on links that are in emails you receive. Be cautious of any documents someone sends you, that you are not expecting.

How to Protect Yourself From the Vulnerability

According to Microsoft a fix for this vulnerability was released on March 14th for all affected versions of Windows. If you are running Windows and have automatic updates enabled you should be okay. If you don’t and haven’t updated recently you should update to the most recently released version immediately. It is important to note that unsupported versions of Windows, like XP, did not receive this security update. Those systems should either be isolated or shut down.

Source: Wordfence Security

Comments welcome,