Remove yourself from people search sites and erase your online presence
Read this article, and take actions.
Link: Remove yourself from people search sites and erase your online presence
Related reading: Google’s Pichai says people know how much Android snoops (really?)
Okay.. Let’s cast a critical eye..
At the bottom of an article about how, for a few bucks, ANY-one can buy a ‘kit’ and make their own Android Ransomware (see, Easy-to-Use Apps Allow Anyone to Create Android Ransomware Within Seconds) we are advised how to ‘stay safe’ from such unhappy things..
How to Protect Your Android Devices from Ransomware Attacks
In order to protect against such threats on mobile devices, you are recommended to:
- Always keep regular backups of your important data.
- Make sure that you run an active anti-virus security suite of tools on your machine.
- Avoid downloading apps from unknown sites and third-party app stores.
- Always pay close attention to the permissions requested by an app, even if it is downloaded from an official app store.
- Do not open any email attachments from unknown sources.
- Finally, browse the Internet safely.
And let’s analyze that advice with our critical eye:
- Always keep regular backups of your important data. Because it’s not a question of if you’ll get screwed, it’s a question of when.
- Make sure that you run an active anti-virus security suite of tools on your machine. No arguements. If it connects to the Internet you NEED this. But KNOW THIS: it’s only a semi-effective shield, NOT bulletproof armor.
- Avoid downloading apps from unknown sites and third-party app stores. Or even regular ‘stores’, as we’ve seen them get ‘poisoned’ already (Google Play Store, recently [see https://thehackernews.com/2017/08/android-ddos-botnet.html]). So let’s just change it to: Do NOT download apps.
[edit 9/18: and yet again. See this http://thehackernews.com/2017/09/play-store-malware.html.] - Always pay close attention to the permissions requested by an app, even if it is downloaded from an official app store. Utterly pointless to advise this. First of all no one will. Second, were ‘average people’ to start doing this, they’d have no clue what all that ‘tech jargon’ means. And 3rd, most apps don’t offer you any choices with ‘Permissions’ – if you want the app, you have to accept the ads and the spying. So let’s just use my #3 as our guide.
- Do not open any email attachments from unknown sources. Um. People who still do this have never read a tech article in their life. So they aren’t seeing this.Those who do (read articles) KNOW email is still a favorite way for the criminals to infect your machine. MY advice? Unless someone you know has told you, “I’m sending you a document”, don’t open it – period.
- Finally, browse the Internet safely. What? Great advice! Only one problem — there is no such thing. ( Um … I guess that translates to “don’t look at pron”?)
- Do not ‘jailbreak’ or ‘root’ your device. (Okay.. so I had to add one.)
* * *
Today’s quotable quote: “Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don’t get so worked up about things.” ~ Kenneth Branagh
Copyright 2007-2017 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
14 Tips to be safer on Public Wi-Fi (‘hotspots’)
A couple reading reco’s for mobile Internet users.
* 14 Public Wi-Fi Hotspot Security Tips You Need
“Sometimes you need it so bad, you don’t care if it is clean or dirty. You don’t care who has been there before or what viruses they’ve left behind. I speak, of course, of public Wi-Fi hotspots, aka honeypots for weak-willed souls desperate for a sense of connection. Look, it’s okay to connect to strange networks. Just use protection, cover your tracks, and follow PCMag’s 14 Tips for Public Hotspot Security. Be safe out there.” Read more..
I disagree with what the author wrote there a bit.. it’s really not ‘okay’ to use public wi-fi.. (that’s why I put ‘safer’ where the Industry puts ‘safe’) but I know you’re going to. One of the main reasons is “53 percent can’t tell a secure network from an insecure one.”
That’s so shockingly stupid clueless in 2017 .. do we need to remove these devices from the hands of the masses?
* * *
Today’s quote: “A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what’s going on.” ~ William S. Burroughs
Copyright 2007-2017 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
Just don’t download any apps..
Guys, I have long told people, if you don’t absolutely need it, don’t install it (and you sure as shooting don’t need five media players..). Well now there’s even more reason to repeat that advice.
* More than 1,000 Spyware Apps Found On Android App Stores
“If you think you are downloading apps from Google Play Store and you are secure, then watch out! Someone has managed to flood third-party app stores and Google Play Store with more than a thousand malicious apps, which can monitor almost anything a user does on their mobile device from silently …” Read More..
Update: 500+ Android apps found containing program that can download spyware plug-in
“More than 500 mobile apps on Google Play were recently discovered containing an advertising software development kit capable of downloading malicious plug-ins that can spy on Android users’ call histories.. Apps using the ad SDK, a product called Igexin, were downloaded over 100 million times by Android device owners before Google removed these programs from its store..” Read more..
Tell your friends.
Addenda: I have been asked my thoughts on Wikileaks and the (alleged) CIA hacking tools (such as this one, posted today) often enough now that I think I should mention them here.. please don’t think the CIA are the only folks who can do/are doing these ‘exploits’. They basically copied from the hackers. These things are possible because all our devices/technologies are inherently, fundamentally, insecure. (Don’t believe me? Read this.)
* * *
Today’s quote: “I am thankful the most important key in history was invented. It’s not the key to your house, your car, your boat, your safety deposit box, your bike lock or your private community. It’s the key to order, sanity, and peace of mind. The key is ‘Delete.'” ~ Elayne Boosler
Copyright 2007-2017 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
This is why so few posts..
I see headlines like this everyday.
And nobody seems to care.
LATEST NEWS Nov 29, 2016
 |
Cyber Attack Knocks Nearly a Million Routers Offline Mirai Botnet is getting stronger and more notorious each day that passes by. The reason: Insecure Internet-of-things Devices. Last month, the Mirai botnet knocked the entire Internet offline for a few hours, crippling some of the world’s biggest and most popular websites. Now, more than 900,000 …
|
 |
San Francisco Metro System Hacked with Ransomware; Resulting in Free Rides Nothing is immune to being hacked when hackers are motivated. The same proved by hackers on Friday, when more than 2,000 computer systems at San Francisco’s public transit agency were apparently got hacked. San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, also known as MUNI, offered free rides on …
|
 |
Hacker who exposed Steubenville Rape Faces longer Prison term than Rapists Remember Steubenville High School Rape Case? In 2012, Steubenville (Ohio) high school’s football team players gang-raped an unconscious teenage girl from West Virginia and took photographs of the sexual assault. In December 2012, a member of the hacker collective Anonymous hacked into the …
|
 |
Researchers Show How to Steal Tesla Car by Hacking into Owner’s Smartphone New technology is always a little scary, so are Smart Cars. From GPS system and satellite radio to wireless locks, steering, brakes, and accelerator, today vehicles are more connected to networks than ever, and so they are more hackable than ever. It’s not new for security researchers to hack …
|
 |
Beware! Malicious JPG Images on Facebook Messenger Spreading Locky Ransomware If you receive an image file sent by someone, even your friend, on your Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn or any other social media platform, just DO NOT CLICK ON IT. Even JPG image file could eventually infect your computer with the infamous Locky Ransomware. Earlier this week, we reported a new … |
Worse, there’s too many people using computers who’ve never even heard of ‘ransomware’.
Well.. I’ve been pointing to important headlines such as these since 2007. Been doing my part. It’s up to you people to educate your friends and loved ones with the bleak picture. The handwriting’s on the wall, folks.
Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
Own an Android? Read this!
It just keeps getting better and better..
* Pre-installed Backdoor On 700 Million Android Phones Sending Users’ Data To China
“Do you own an Android smartphone? You could be one of those 700 Million users whose phone is secretly sending text messages to China every 72 hours. You heard that right. Over 700 Million Android smartphones contain a secret ‘backdoor’ that surreptitiously sends all your text messages, call log, contact list, location history, and app data to China every 72 hours.” Read more..
This is why you don’t let your enemy build your stuff.. And it’s as predictable as the sunrise. It might sound paranoid, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this (type thing) isn’t on every device made there (maybe dormant) and it’s why I won’t buy Lenovo.
• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
-
Say "thank you!" Buy Tech Paul a cup of coffee (and keep T4E ad free).
-
-
McAfee® Cybersafety Resource Portal, an online help center designed to assist victims of computer crime and provide information on how to avoid becoming a victim.
-
Subscribe to Tech--for Everyone by EmailRecent Comments
-
-
-
-
Also:
-
-
Tech - for Everyone 