Elcomsoft, Adobe, and Strong Passwords

May 3, 2009

I couldn’t have said it better myself (although I’ve been saying it for a long time): Use strong passwords: At least 12 characters. At least one upper case letter. At least one lower case letter. At least one number. At least one special character (those things above the numbers on your keyboard, etc.). Never use [...]

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How To Keep Malware Off Your Computer

April 28, 2009

I’ve been using my current laptop for about three years now. I gave my old laptop to my wife when I got my current one. She doesn’t do much except for shopping and writing emails to a few friends. I had installed some applications on that laptop before I passed it off to her and [...]

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An Easy Conficker Test

April 3, 2009

Got Conficker? I certainly hope not! Conficker is a form of malware that allows some unknown entity to take over your computer and do things that you’d rather not have done. It was first released last November (after the details of a Microsoft Windows vulnerability were made available). Since this threat is easily removed by [...]

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VIPRE AntiVirus Software

January 18, 2009

I am in Orlando this weekend, speaking at the Earn 1k A Day Summit on computer security. one of the other members attending the event asked me about antivirus and firewall software. I tested Sunbelt Software’s VIPRE AntiVirus a couple of months ago (I don’t regularly use antivirus software; I rely on other “experts only” [...]

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Fireproof Boxes — An Often Overlooked Detail

September 8, 2008

A fireproof box can be a great place to store a small quantity of important papers. Anything put in this box has a better chance of surviving a fire. I like to keep my passports, birth certificates, wills, and social security cards in there, among other things. They are the things you don’t need all [...]

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A Hurricane Season Charity Note

September 2, 2008

The first message just popped into my Inbox: “Hurricane Relief”. Here we go again. If you want to contribute to hurricane relief, please do so via some established charity that you KNOW, with 100% certainty, will use your donation for its intended purpose. I’m not going to list any here, nor will I recommend any. [...]

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Passing Passwords In The Clear

August 31, 2008

Do you realize that whenever you log in to your web server using FTP or telnet — or log in to a site via regular HTTP (as compared to HTTPS) — you are passing your password in the clear, where it is subject to being intercepted? This is just one way that your password can [...]

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Where Do You Go When You Surf The Internet?

August 27, 2008

There are a lot of dangerous places on the Internet. You know — sites you wouldn’t want your children to see, sites that download malware on to your computer, sites that can take over your computer without your knowledge, etc. Here’s a simple trick to help prevent your computer from becoming infected and to better [...]

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How Simple Will Simple Be?

March 7, 2008

So far, not much has been put up here. To be honest, it’s because I’ve been debating which way I want to take this site. And I’ve almost decided! I want this site to be exactly as the name implies: Simple. I want the information you receive here to be easy to implement. Security. I [...]

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Simple Security Tips

March 13, 2007

Welcome to Simple Security Tips. You’ll get a very short — and very helpful — security tip every time I make a post. And who am “I”? I’m Tom Brownsword, a certified computer security professional (CompTIA Security+ and CISSP) with an extensive background in security. Beyond the “computer security” aspect, I also have extensive experience [...]

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