It's always nice to set the scene for these subjects it helps my over active imagination to write better, so lets sit back and imagine the following: you are browsing the internet, firstly you look up a few weird and wonderful subjects, then you tip over to that dodgy website your wife doesn't know about to catch up on that online affair you have been having. You ask how did you know? well if you have been watching any tech related news in the past week you would have seen a headline or two stating things like "popular sites record your every keystrokes" and the rest.
So you ask what does that mean, websites are recording my keystrokes so they have a bulk file filled with code and text and links right? Well technically yes but someone also though it would be a good idea to create a software that plays back all of this stuff in a film like format, sound scary? well it is and as you can see from the video below were your "keystrokes" to get leaked you might be in a whole pile of doo doo pretty quickly.
Researchers
from Princeton University's Centre for Information Technology Policy
(CITP) analyzed the Alexa top 50,000 websites in the world and found
that 482 sites, many of which are high profile, are using a new
web-tracking technique to track every move of their users.
Dubbed "Session Replay," the technique is used even by most
popular websites, including The Guardian, Reuters, Samsung, Al-Jazeera,
VK, Adobe, Microsoft, and WordPress, to record every single movement a
visitor does while navigating a web page, and this incredibly extensive
data is then sent off to a third party for analysis.
"Session replay scripts" are usually designed to gather data regarding
user engagement that can be used by website developers to improve the
end-user experience. However, what's particularly concerning
is that these scripts record beyond the information you purposely give
to a website—which also includes the text you type out while filing a form and then delete before hitting 'Submit.'
If your starting to get cold
sweats after reading the above then here are a couple of sites where you can
educate yourself a bit further on this topic.
For the past few month's Microsoft have been on a mission to put there new Windows 10 operating system onto every machine in the world. Now this is great if you actually want the new Windows 10 OS but if you don't well then the constant pop up stating "Your FREE Windows 10 upgrade is ready!" may be driving you crazy. Lucky for anyone who doesn't want to update a one click solution has now come to light saving non Windows 10 inclined users all over the world.
A new free tool, dubbed Never10, provides the user a one-click solution to disable Windows 10 upgrade until the user explicitly gives permission to install Windows 10.
Never10 has been developed by Steve Gibson, the well-known software
developer and founder of Gibson Research, which is why the tool is also
known as "Gibson's Never10."
So lets do this, if your ready to disable that update do the following:
Once downloaded, the program detects if the upgrade to Windows 10 is
enabled or disabled on your system and then shows a pop-up. If enabled,
Click 'Disable Win10 Upgrade' button.
You’ll again see a pop-up that now shows Windows 10 upgrade is
disabled on your system, with two buttons to 'Enable Win10 Upgrade' and
'Exit.' Click on Exit button.
The best part of this tool is that you don't have to install an
application on your PC to do this. Gibson’s Never 10 is an executable.
So you just need to run it, and it doesn’t install anything on your
computer. You can delete it when you're done.
For more technical details on how this tool works, you can head on to this link.
I have been asked a bit lately about securing android devices as I tend to focus on the apple side of things as I myself use the iPhone. There is a myth out there that android is inherently insecure and this really isn't true, android out of the box is pretty good its the user that make the device insecure. The real issue with android is anyone can make an app and upload it to their store they don't check first to see if you are a potential cyber criminal. I think from memory that at one stage in the past few years the top 5 apps in the android store were in fact trojan horses this might be wrong but I am pretty sure their is some truth their I need to go back and double check this. So to minimize the waffle you ask "what do I need to do to secure my android?" Well I have put together a number of steps that if followed will definitely help you get to a place where you can feel "secure".
1) Do not save all of your passwords in your device! I don't know why I need to say this but people naturally tend to save their passwords for easy access of whatever the reason on their devices. This is a very bad practice and you should avoid this, think of memorizing your passwords of a way to delaying Alzheimer's and not getting ripped off by cyber criminals.
2) Use your devices inbuilt security features, If you are running on Jelly Bean, you can have a screen lock and encryption enabled to further enhance your security. Use these features they will help you keep your device safe.
3) Androids allow you to lock your apps you should use this feature especially for apps that hold sensitive information. Their is a free app that you can download to enable this feature called App Lock.
4) If you are installing an app read what permissions the app want's!!! If you are downloading some recipe app it doesn't need access to your camera, microphone and contacts. This should be common sense but for some reason people download apps and click ok to everything.
5) Download a mobile security app, androids are very much open to virus's and malware in comparison to their i0S counterparts. An app I think is pretty good is avast!mobile security.
6) One of the most important things you can do to secure your android is secure your network. I know you wont listen but try to avoid using public networks. You can protect your information by using apps like Hideninja VPN so that your outgoing connection is always encrypted, making it harder for anyone to sabotage your data. If you suspect that your device is being attacked, WiFi Protector can help fend off these attackers. To further enhance your network security you can apply settings from SecDroid but note that this app is only for rooted phones.
For parents the risks of the internet to your child can be over looked. Coming up to Christmas you may be tempted to buy the next great gadget for your child however with the Vtech cyber attack this week as one example, how safe is the data your children are inputting into these devices? I would always advise parents if they are giving their children access to tablets and smart phones at a young age they should always consider a number of factors.
1) Don't put your child's personal data into any device when setting it up! Use your own details if you have to otherwise create throw away credentials to enter in any applications that don't require factual information.
2) Set boundaries! balance is key, create times of use around their devices avoid your children becoming addicted to their devices.
3) Educate your children to the dangers of the internet and the fact that everything they do online is there for life! Snapchat is a popular example to use and I suggest you give this article a quick read.
4) Put safe guards in place to monitor your child's online activity, this will give your child the device they want and you can have the piece of mind that they are not putting themselves at danger online.
5) Keep you kids off social media until they are an appropriate age, most sites don't allow children until they are 13 years of age but this can be easily overcome by entering a fake date of birth.
6) Make sure you need to enter a password to download apps and games don't leave your credit card information signed in on the device they use. This will allow you greater control over what applications they are using, it may also stop a nasty credit card bill from unseen app charges.
The internet is a great place but the dangers it poses are very real, take a few minutes to watch the video below before disregarding this post.
Below are some tools for monitoring or limiting the amount of time your child's device is in use.
For Window's users:
When you create an account designated as a child’s account, you get the option to enable Family Safety settings. Family Safety allows you to monitor and /or time the usage from your child’s account, block certain applications or sites, and get weekly reports reviewing the activity on the account.
For Mac users:
Log on as Administrator on your child’s Mac, go to the Sharing preferences and choose Screen Sharing. Continue to “Allow Access For” and choose Administrators. When you are on your Mac, go to the Finder and choose Go: Network to see your child’s Mac. Click on Share Screen to see the activity.
For Smartphones:
Backing up your child's phone’s content to your own PC or Mac is a good way of keeping tabs on things. This will allow you to see which apps are being used on the phone, and you’ll be able to see what calls and text messages your child is making. Be sure to activate the basic security features, as well as any further limitations on usage you want, I have already done a blog on securing iPhone's.
There are also many products on the market that will allow you to use GPS tracking and more in-depth monitoring of all your kids devices. One free option that allows some of this functionality is Norton Family Online. The free version lets you monitor every site your kids visit, examine a list of everything they search for, and track their activity across social media via any Internet connection. You can tell Norton to always allow (whitelist) or block (blacklist) certain sites, customize the settings for each child, and set time limits so you can boot them offline when it’s time for bed. A premier version lets you monitor their instant messages, video consumption and mobile devices. This is just one product that I am aware of but their are many similar software type packages out there.
I hope that you have found this post of some help and if you need advice on anything just pop a comment below and I will do my best to give you a constructive answer,
