Get ‘Em While You Can

by Administrator on April 19, 2012

It’s spring, and that means that it’s time for some spring cleaning. At least on this site.

I go over my blogs and other sites every once in a while, and over time, I change — so my web sites also have to change. And it’s time for a change of format and etc. here on Simple Security Tips.

Don’t take this too terribly harshly, but the real reason we have security problems is you. You simply don’t know what to watch out for. You don’t know where Trouble comes from or what it looks like. You want stuff that you know is too good to be true to actually be true — but it’s not going to be true today, tomorrow, or ever.

And the criminals know that and they take advantage of it. Why do you think you still get zillions of spam emails promoting “enhancement” products? Because people still click on the links in the emails and buy the stuff. Because people let their systems be compromised (as opposed to hackers actually popping their computer) so that they can be joined to botnets and used to send the stuff in the first place. Because people download what they think is a free game but it turns out to be a password stealing Trojan that allows the criminal to log into their webmail account and send garbage to everybody in their address book.

Sure, even the “experts” get hacked. Sometimes. It happens. But most of the bad stuff that happens to good people like you can, unfortunately, be blamed on you. Sometimes you don’t know any better. Sometimes you do but do the wrong thing anyway. But I know, from my years of experience in computer (and other types of) security, a lot of it can be prevented if you just know what’s really going on.

Sure, I have the “creds”. I was doing risk assessments and managing key inventories for military units 30 years ago (yeah, I’ve been “doing” security for a long time. And don’t ever tell me that you lost your keys! No mercy at all…). Certifications? Got five computer security certifications at the moment. They come in handy when I need to deep inspect packet data to inspect TCP flags, packet sizes and sequences… Lots of boring stuff.

But my point is that having the creds and qualifications to do that kind of stuff has put me in positions where I see what’s really going on. I know where the problems lie, and for the most part, it’s people doing stuff they shouldn’t be doing. My experience has shown me that a lot of the problems can be prevented if people will simply do the right thing. What’s so hard about that? :)

You have a good brain. You’re a smart person. I’m going to help you exercise that muscle between your ears (otherwise known as a “brain”) so that you stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right things.

You can do this. I know you can! And I’m going to help you learn what you need to learn without your having to get a doctorate in security. And for those times when you do everything right but bad things happen anyway (and they will), I’m going to tell you how to protect yourself and recover as fast as possible.

But this old blog is B-O-R-I-N-G!!! Heck, I don’t even think my mother reads it any more (OK, there are a few hundred who swing by every month… visitors, that is — not mothers!). We’re going to change all that.

Enough of the sugar coating. Enough of the stuff that reads like a paper I wrote during my senior year of college (where my professor gave me an “A” without reading it because it was too painful to actually read). Let’s start talking about the real security problems and what you can do about it.

And the first “something” is for you to stop doing stuff that you know you shouldn’t be doing. Don’t open emails from people you don’t know. Stop accepting every friend and game request you get on “that” social networking site. Don’t click on ads if they seem too good to be true. Don’t do recreational surfing from a computer you use to produce income. Don’t hide your house key under a flowerpot or door mat. Don’t leave your car unattended with the engine running, even if the doors are locked (rock plus velocity = broken window and stolen car). You’ve probably heard it all before, but you need to hear it again — and you need to hear it from me.- somebody who’s “been there, done that” — and is about to wear the T-shirt (and write the book… or at least the web site!).

Welcome to the new Simple Security Tips. Almost. :)

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Rethinking Credit Cards

by Administrator on March 2, 2012

I don’t like debt. In fact, one of my personal goals is to get out of debt entirely, including my house. About $400,000 should do it… :)

As a part of my dislike of debt, I’ve tried to stay away from credit cards; however, some things I read recently are leading me to reconsider this decision. Instead, I think I’m going to keep one credit card and use it for purchases. But the one “hard and fast” rule is that I’ll pay it off, in full, every month before the due date so as to prevent interest and service charges — and, of course, to prevent adding to my debt.

But since this isn’t a personal finance blog (although there is lots of security in being out of debt!), let me talk about the security reasons for this (OK, and a couple of other good reasons that really have nothing to do with security…):

  • Credit cards have better fraud protection than debit cards. The card that I’m going to re-open has actually called me on several occasions to verify transactions. Of course, I have a love / hate relationship with them; I love the way they monitor accounts for fraud activity but DESPISE their totally unforgiving attitude when your payment is even a second late (which is why I won’t carry a balance). In fact, once I paid them, but they sat on my payment for 3 days until it was late. Only then did they process my payment while tacking on late fees. I’m sorry, but if you give me money, it’s not going to take me even 3 seconds before I process it!
  • Rewards. This particular card (and I won’t mention the name; no free publicity) does offer cash back rewards. If I do my regular shopping with them and pay it in full every month, I’ll squeeze a bit of cash out of them without them squeezing any cash out of me. It’s a tightrope walk, but in the end, I’m going to get a lot more out of them then they got out of me…
  • Convenience. OK, this isn’t really a reason since I use my debit card everywhere now, but by putting everything on this credit card, I won’t have to enter my PIN quite so much. Instead, I’ll be signing stuff more.

Two out of three reasons isn’t bad, is it?

But I like the idea of fraud protection for my purchases, especially those made online. And using this credit card is going to better protect me from fraud.

So I’m going to give that credit card another try. Here are my conditions, and I only recommend that you try this IF you agree to all of the following:

  1. You don’t buy more stuff than you do now. You only use the credit card to buy stuff that you’re buying now with cash or a debit card. In other words, if your grocery bill is $100 a week when you pay with your debit card, it’s still $100 a week when you pay with the credit card.
  2. You don’t use the cash piling up in your bank account (from using the credit card) to buy other stuff. You keep it for when the credit card bill arrives.
  3. You keep track of what you spend. Receipts, etc.
  4. As soon as you get the credit card bill, you pay it. In full. Every month. It won’t be a problem because your spending habits are still the same and the money is sitting in the account, waiting for your monthly statement.
  5. If you notice any differences between what you actually spent and what’s on your credit card statement, you notify the credit card issuer immediately. Call them (or use their website contact form), but follow up with a written letter.
  6. Keep track of your payments. If the issuer starts playing games with your payments and tries to tack on fees, make a big, public fuss about it if they don’t fix it right away.

One last thing: Some credit cards offer even more benefits, i.e. insurance when you rent a car. While these are nice and you should definitely take advantage of them if they fully meet your needs (based on your judgment, not mine), then by all means enjoy these benefits. But this should never be a reason for getting a credit card, in my opinion.

Between the discipline I think I’ve developed, the fraud protection, the cash back awards, and the convenience of not having to push four buttons every time I want to buy something, I think the benefits are worth it. I can’t wait to milk the credit card company dry!

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Ouch! You Call This A BLOG? And What’s That About A Key?

July 14, 2011

How dare I call this a blog — and call myself a “blogger” — when the last post was written about 10 months ago? Lots of nice stuff for everybody to read, eh? Guilty as charged. If I had a scrap of sense in my body, I’d just let it die a slow death and [...]

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University Of [redacted] Online — Consumer Confusion

September 21, 2010

NOTE: I redacted the name of the actual web site from this article due to a legal representative of the site leaving an unapproved comment about this article being inaccurate — without pointing out the inaccuracies. This is an OPINION blog, based on my observations and experience — and I saw what I saw. Nevertheless, [...]

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UPS Delivery Notification Email = Trojan

January 14, 2010

I received several copies this morning (in different email accounts) of an email that claimed to be from the United Parcel Service (UPS). Here’s the text of one of them (The “From” name and “Subject” varies, but contains “UPS Tracking Number”): Dear customer! The courier company was not able to deliver your parcel by your [...]

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Don’t Leave Your Mail In Your Car

December 4, 2009

I just came across this article about not leaving mail in your car. Your mail contains all sorts of personal information that is of value to a thief. And if a thief has a copy of your bank statement and your home address, the balance just might convince them that a home invasion could be [...]

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A Neat Way To Hide Your Email Address On Web Sites

September 4, 2009

I’ve been looking for a good tool that will obfuscate (or hide) my email address on websites. I wanted something that is easy for a legitimate visitor to see, yet would be impossible for those ‘bots that scrape the Internet, looking for email addresses on web pages that they can send their worthless spam to. [...]

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How Google Protects Your Gmail Account

August 18, 2009

I locked myself out of my Gmail account a few days ago and needed to have the password reset. That’s when I found out that Google has implemented a system that can prevent somebody who knows the answers to your security question from hijacking / stealing your account. Google now sends an email to the [...]

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How To Reduce The Amount Of Spam In Your Inbox

August 18, 2009

Got spam? We all do, to one extent or the other. And because of that, there are a lot of products that can help you better manage the spam that hits your Inbox. Would you like to know how to get and use one of the best anti-spam devices available? Would you want to know [...]

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A Resource To Help Identify Fake Security Products

June 24, 2009

Thanks to the good people at Sunbelt Software (makers of VIPRE Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware, all of us now have a great resource that can help us identify if a program we stumble across on the Internet is a legitimate security product. To get started, head over to their Rogue Anti Sypware blog and type the [...]

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