Futurelawyer

Death By Email Blog: Change Your Email Password ... Now

Death By Email Blog: Change Your Email Password ... Now. I know, web based email is convenient. You don't have to remember your POP settings. You can get at it wherever you are. You don't have to load a separate email client. However, it is less secure than POP email; primarily, because it is such a target. This theft of passwords from GMail, AOL, HotMail, and Yahoo is Exhibit A. So, if you use web based email from one of these services, change your password today. Do it now. Then, download Thunderbird, or another email client, and get your email the old fashioned way. Download it through a filter.

Is Your Cell Phone Secure?

Ride The Lightning: CELL PHONE SPYWARE: A READER ASKS "CAN THEY REALLY DO THAT?". This is a scary and important post about the ability of hackers to compromise the security of cell phones, and to use Bluetooth technology or software to gain access to everything the user is doing, including physical location, emails and passwords. A very important security tip is to disable the Bluetooth radio when you are not using it, and to make your cell phone invisible to bluetooth bots that search for devices to compromise. Another basic cell phone security tip is to password protect access. Yes, I know, it is a pain to tap the security code every time you want to use the phone; however, it is another layer of security in an insecure world. Finally, remove the battery when the phone is not being used for a time; otherwise, if someone has gained access to your phone, and installed one of the illegal spy programs on it, you can be tracked and listened to even if your phone is not being used. Watch the video in the post, and then protect your phone. Now, get out there and think secure.

Forgive Amazon? Okay, But Never Forget

Amazon apologizes for deleting Kindle e-books | Relevant Results - CNET News. Okay, Amazon, I forgive you. I forgive your theft of my property by unilaterally deleting a book that I paid you for. I forgive your heavy handed "Big Brotheresque" deletion of "Big Brother" from the Kindle that you so kindly permitted me to purchase for over $400. But, I will never forget. Mao said it best: "Trust, but verify". In other words, Amazon, despite its apology, cannot be trusted. Actually, I never bought a Kindle, so I guess I am channeling the users who did, and had the misfortune to download 1984, only to have it yanked back. The problem about a breach of trust is that all the money in the world can't make the doubt go away. Amazon has offered the offended users $30 and an apology. Fool me once, Amazon, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Web Based Software Security Leaks And Your Mom's Advice

Google Apps Security Questioned After Twitter Leak - PC World. Moms are good at giving advice; I know my mom is. She has pithy truisms that stay with me to this day. One of them was that you should never say anything in public that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper. You never know who is listening. I have followed this advice most of the time. When I haven't, it has sometimes come back to haunt me. Perhaps this is why I am so cautious about the adoption of web based applications that store sensitive information in the cloud. The recent hack of Google Apps is a case in point. If the largest cloud application on the planet can't prevent hacking of private information, what chance do the smaller companies have? Is it even possible to have a really secure web application? Set aside the issue of local backup and storage of useful data created by the user. What happens when the data is stolen while it is floating around in the ether? I understand that anything we do on the web, including email, carries the same risks. I just want someone to tell me why I should do something on the web that carries such risk, if I don't have to. There aren't alternatives to email that don't use the web, except for old fashioned snail mail, which carries its own risks. However, running case management and word processing software on my laptop keeps the data and documents in my hot little hands. You can steal it from me; but, you will have to kill me first.

And You Thought I Was Paranoid!

'Power-Line Exploit' Logs Your Keystrokes Using Outlets, Lasers - Hackers - Gizmodo. This report describes a new hacker exploit that uses powerlines to record the keystrokes of a computer plugged in to the power grid. Apparently, electrical cords that power laptops are unshielded, which allows for hackers to determine what keystrokes are being pressed by measuring voltage fluctuation on the ground wire. The author, tongue in cheek, suggests computing in your underwear, inside a Faraday cage, which reminds me of Gene Hackman's character in "The Conversation", where he tears up his apartment looking for electronic surveillance bugs. Yes, the increasing cleverness of criminals is scary. Yes, you aren't paranoid if someone really is out to get you. However, at what point do you say that you will not stop living your life in order to protect against criminals? How about let's catch them, and lock them up, and throw the key away?

Enable WEP or WPA Encryption To Protect Your Wireless Network

Enable WEP or WPA Encryption To Protect Your Wireless Network. Modern routers do a fine job of protecting your law office or home from intruders coming in over the Internet. The built in Network Address Translation (NAT) routes traffic to internal locations that are not visible to the world at large. However, if you have a wireless router, the traffic coming in and going out is visible to anyone with a wireless adapter and within physical range of your network. You may be familiar with WEP encryption, which is an older, and now obsolete form of encrypting the wireless signals. The more recent WPA encryption system is much stronger, and, although it can be cracked, requires a much more sophisticated attacker. Having WEP encryption is like closing the door to your house, and locking it with a door knob lock. WPA is like having several deadbolts, and an armed guard. No security is foolproof; however, you need to activate WPA at least. What kind of Internet security are you using at your law firm? Are you using any?

Microsoft Security Essentials Beta - Have They Seen The Light?

Microsoft Security Essentials Beta Home. Finally, Microsoft has seen the light. The Beta of Security Essentials (the new name for the all inclusive security suite that protects against viruses and spam and spyware, and updates itself automatically, and operates in the background) is up, and you will want to be in the first 75,000 to download and install it. It has replaced several freeware security programs in my house and office, and looks fast and efficient. Why replace free software that is competent? Why, because Microsoft has made it free, of course. Microsoft is finally making the OS secure; which, of course, should have been what it was when you bought it. I guess I AM a PC, after all. I don't eat quiche, I don't do yoga, I'm not cool, I'm not rich, I'm not thin, etc. But, all you cool Apple people; don't get too smug. There are some viruses and spam and spyware out there for you too.

Microsoft's New Free Security Software - At Least, They Didn't Name It Bong

How good is Microsoft's free antivirus software? | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com. Bing, Bong, the witch is dead. Microsoft, next week, will be providing a new free security suite that will allegedly be basic protection for all users. It is not free because Microsoft is a kinder, gentler company. It is in Microsoft's financial best interest to have a secure OS. Microsoft spends millions of dollars fixing problems in the OS, and getting users to download and install the fixes. The name of the new software is "Microsoft Security Essentials", which is descriptive if boring. It could have been worse. They could have spent One Hundred Million Dollars on it and called it Bong. What are they smoking up there in Seattle?

Undelete Plus 3.0 can get that file back | Crave - CNET

Undelete Plus 3.0 can get that file back | Crave - CNET. I have often posted about the importance of backing up. Back up your drive, back up your files. You can't have too many backups. Murphy's Law will strike at the most inopportune moment. Admit it, you have accidentally deleted a file you later needed, haven't you? Come on, 'fess up. We have all done it. Sometimes, the file is important enough, or contains enough of our work hours, that we get that sick feeling in the pit of the stomach. I have used the free version of Undelete for some time, and it has saved me on more than  one occasion. The plus version is easier to use, and only costs $19.95 a year. This is one of those utilities that you hope you never need, but really ought to have on the drive.

Stupid Husband Tricks - Give Your Wife Access To Your Emails

Ride The Lightning: NEW YORK SAYS WIFE MAY USE HUSBAND'S E-MAILS AT TRIAL. The biggest security risk in computer use continues to be the human brain, or lack thereof. She Who Must Be Obeyed reads this blog; but, I have no fear that she will gain useful intelligence from this post, in the unlikely event that she decides, in the future, that my disobedience justifies my dismissal from the marital bliss that we now share. This guy actually gave access to his email account to his wife, and failed to change the access password after their separation. The post doesn't disclose who left whom; but, I suspect she left him for being stupid, but I digress. This New York ruling, holding that access to stored email does not violate interception statutes, highlights that computer security depends more on human action or inaction than upon techniques for breaking in where information is intended to be secure. In other words, lock the door and make it more difficult for the burglar to get in. And, after your wife leaves you, change the locks.