One of the two simple tips I mentioned in my previous post is to always log in your Windows computer with a Standard User account and the benefits of doing this include: 1. No software can be installed without your permission because you will be prompted to enter the password of an account with administrator privilege before software is being installed. 2. No system setting can be changed without your permission because you need the password […]
Security
32 posts
When I get a new computer, the first thing I usually do is to uninstall the junk software pre-installed by the manufacturer. I find the most annoying software bundled in new computer is McAfee security products such as McAfee LiveSafe, so when I first got my new HP Envy 15 laptop, I immediately removed all McAfee products. I thought the removal should not leave any trace behind, but how wrong I was. Recently I noticed […]
While people are still bombarded with the recent Sony security breach, more than 100,000 self-hosted WordPress websites are reported to be infected by a SoakSoak.ru malware due to a critical security vulnerability in a plugin installed on those websites: Slider Revolution, and Google has already blacklisted more than 10,000 sites being infected by the malware. The vulnerability allows hackers to download wp-config.php file and if successful, then hackers will have full access to the compromised web […]
When you first set up your Windows computer, the first user account you create will be an administrator account by default, and all additional accounts created will be standard accounts. However, there is also a built-in administrator account called “Administrator” in Windows, but it is disabled by default for the security reason. If for some reason you would like to enable this built-in administrator account (even though it is not recommended to enable this account), […]
When you initially set up your new Windows computer, the first user you created will be an administrator account by default, this design can greatly ease the process of setting up your computer because you don’t have to enter administrator password every time you install software. However, once the setup is finished, it is not recommended to continue to log on your computer with this administrator account because it gives malicious program (virus, spyware, etc) opportunity to […]
Why Do I Write This Post? Two recent incidents compelled me to write this post: 1. Last week, my son was doing his school project on the computer I agreed to let him use two years ago and asked me “How come I get this advertisement pop-up on every page I visit?” Does this sound familiar to you? Yes, it means most likely there is some kind of spyware in the computer. After a quick investigation, I […]
NOVA just released a interesting video on cyber security called Rise of the Hackers. Some part of the video is a little bit dramatic, but overall it is very informative and eye-opening. It did a good job on conveying the idea that the Internet is a very dangerous environment and the cyber security is a tug-o-war between defenders and hackers, and also did an excellent job on explaining how quantum computing works even though it […]
Convenience always comes with a price, and this is also true when you order your pizza online. I am not talking about the price you pay for your pizza; I am talking about the security you may sacrifice when you enjoy the convenience brought by the east online order service from any pizza store. Recently hackers claim that they have grabbed the passwords of about 65k customers from Domino’s Pizza in France and Belgium, and […]
Google is working on a Chrome extension called End-To-End which can help encrypt, decrypt, digital sign, and verify signed email messages within the browser, according to a post on Google Online Security Blog. The demand of encrypting emails has increased because more and more people want to keep snoops from reading their emails. Currently, if you would like to send encrypted email messages to someone, you will have to be tech savvy enough to accomplish the task, and […]
Embed from Getty Images The web site of the popular open source encryption tool TrueCrypt suddenly disappeared and visitors are redirected to a SourceForge page with this note: “WARNING: Using TrueCrypt is not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues”, and the web site also mentions that the development of TrueCrypt was ended in 05/2014 after Microsoft ended the support for Windows XP, but the web site does not give any reason why the development of […]