New tech security resource

Also, a $99 “PC Stick” (That comes with Windows 10)

Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that I, for the first time in ages, have added a new referral link to my ‘blogroll’; CNet’s recently announced Security and Antivirus Center. I recommend taking a look-see.

* The best security apps and expert advice

“Today we’re thrilled to launch our new Security and Antivirus Center. Our goal: to give you the tools and tactics you need to protect your privacy, your data, and your devices. You’ll find guides, reviews, and how-tos, including tips on banishing bloatware from your PC, tweaking your browser settings for better security, and building better passwords. We’re especially pleased to present our Best recommendations: we’ve tested security software and services and have declared a winner for best VPN, best password manager, and best cloud backup. Come check it out and let us know what else you’d like to see.” Read more..

Other Items (of possible interest):
* The best tool for protecting your kids (or employees) from malware and porn

“One of the industry’s best security tools gives a hand to frazzled parents.” Read more..

[Note: worth reading even if you are not a parent, IMHO.]

* Archos $99 PC Stick is latest Windows computer that fits in your pocket

“The French device maker joins Lenovo and Intel in offering a miniature system that connects to your HDTV via HDMI, but its version is cheaper and will ship with Windows 10 pre-installed.” Read more..

Today’s quote: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” ~ Yogi Berra

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.

E-mail Confidential

Reader Asks How To Ensure Only Intended Recipient Can Read The E-mail

Q: I read your article on using WinPT to encrypt e-mail. But I don’t think that will work for me. I am an appraiser, and I need a way to ensure that confidential documents are seen only by the customer, and I need that document to be locked down. I do not want the client to be able to forward it to some other party, or be able to alter the contents. I use Acrobat to create locked PDF’s but how do I handle the encryption?

A: Dear Reader, I think what you need is a Mission Impossible type system, and once the e-mail is opened, a recorded voices says, “This e-mail will self-destruct in 10 seconds… 9…8…” Ha! (hint: google “self-erasing email”)

Seriously, I did write a series about using GPG and WinPT (see Who’s reading your (e-)mail? Part 1) to generate digital certificates. That topic didn’t do too well — too technical, probably — and so I wrote about a much simpler method (see Simple E-mail Encryption) where you get a certificate and ‘plug it in’ to your e-mail client. (Both these have the advantage of being free.)

And you are correct: those methods will not prevent your clients from forwarding the e-mail once they’ve opened (decrypted) them. They are used point-to-point, to ensure privacy during the transit.

To make sure that your recipients cannot forward, or copy>paste your confidential documents and e-mail attachments, I recommend using the “Pro” version of eCipher, which costs $80/yr. This will prevent printing and forwarding of your messages.

Today’s free link: There is a free site that lets you send confidential e-mails using a unique method, and gives you lots of control (including preventing forwarding). Checkout WatchDox.

Today’s free download: Folks, There is also a free version of eCipher which is very easy to install and use. If you are concerned about privacy and confidentiality, check it out.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

Share this post :

The "Live" Line*

Microsoft’s *New* Product Family

In my ongoing, relentless effort to be simply the Best Tech Writer on the Web, big changes are happening. HUGE changes. Gi-normous changes. (I mean.. really big.) These changes will alter the way I do everything. I am undergoing a metamorphosis of epic proportions. I am going to have to unlearn the ways I have been doing things for.. well, forever. Which isn’t easy. I’m too old to be learning new tricks without a grumble.

One change is that Tech–for Everyone is now being co-hosted on *another* blogging site. This is due to my research into the GigantiCorp known as Google, and my exploration of their ever-expanding array of services, some of which I have reported here.

(What this means for you, Dear Reader, is.. well.. not much– except, if you have grown tired of the “look” and layout of this site, you can read my articles at the other site, which uses a different “template”.)
When you acquire a ‘G-identity’, you gain access to much more than just a Gmail account (which, IMHO, is the best free Webmail service going right now), and one of those things is access to Blogger. Google is continuing to grow even as we speak… who knows what service they’ll be offering next.
I want to have a good relationship with Google, as it is my primary way of advertising my online Help & Support business.

[Addenda: for those of you whose favorite feature of this series is the daily download, you will definitely want to be aware of the “Google Pack” of free downloads — Spyware Doctor being of special note — and you can find out more here https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/googles-pack-is-a-winner/, in case you missed it]

What this means for me is, I now have to publish twice (six times a week!) each day– once here, and once there. Yuk. Fortunately for me, I have been doing intensive, in-depth explorations of the other GigantiCorp known as Microsoft.. specifically their competing array of services offered under the title “Live”.
(Have you noticed? Everything is “Live” now. It’s not “Hotmail”, it’s “Live Hotmail”; “Messenger” is now “Live Messenger”, and the security tools are “Live One Care”..)

I am now writing this article in a completely different way.. one that makes it easy to write-once, post-twice. I have downloaded and Installed a MS program called “Live Writer“, which is a tool for bloggers. The way I had been doing things (all this time) was through my web browser. I would navigate to here, login, access the writing tool, and when finished, hit the “Publish” button.

The other Big Change to my routine is caused by “Live Mail“, which is also freshly downloaded and installed. This is a program very much like Outlook Express and Vista’s Mail, only it allows you to access webmail accounts.. such as ‘Live Hotmail’. (Why don’t the other Microsoft mail clients??? Hmmm?)

It’s about time they did this. My usual routine was to open my web browser and open a tab for each webmail account. It is the way I’ve been doing it for.. well, forever. I have several webmail accounts (as you may have as well) and so this made for several open tabs and much clicking back-and-forth. Live Mail allows me to combine them (sorta) into one collection of folders.
A big plus– it handles encryption certificates well (see, Simple E-mail Encryption).

If you use, or have ever used, an e-mail client (Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.), then you will have a zero learning-curve with Live Mail, as it’s basically the same.. with one vital exception: it allows you to access all your mailboxes.

As you can imagine, my web browser had reached the point where I simply had too many tabs open (three Inboxes, WordPress, and now Blogger, plus a few of my favorite blogs..) and so I have “gone Live”. I am breaking my browser habit. I am trying New Things. No longer will I launch Avant and start Ctrl+T-ing. No! From here on out, I’ll launch a “Live” something-or-other.
Wish me luck. I think I feel the withdrawal symptoms beginning…

Today’s free download(s) and link(s): Well, gee, Folks… I count five of them sprinkled throughout this one little article.. ain’t that enough for one day? But, if you’d like to see the *other* version of this website, click here.
And if you write a blog (or, for a blog, or.. are thinking about starting your own blog) see what a new comer to the blogging game has to say about the free Windows Live Writer (or, “WLW”) as well as the new Live services here.

* Originally published 3/18/08

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

Share this post :

Heavy-Duty IE Repair – Road Warrior’s Gmail

Folks, due to an unusually large number of questions received here at Tech–for Everyone Headquarters recently, I am re-posting this article on repairing Internet Explorer. I’d like to remind readers that that the tips, tricks, and how-to’s posted here are searchable..

Tip(s) of the day: (How about that? Two for the price of one!)
Tip 1) In response to public demand, Google has added a feature to its Gmail service which will force it to always use SSL encryption when you logon (HTTPS). This is particularly beneficial to those of you “mobile” types -who use wireless, public computers, and/or public ‘hotspots’. All you need to do is turn it on.
[note: a secured session is not the same thing as encrypting your individual messages. For my How To on that, click here.]

To turn on the “always use” feature, log on to your Gmail account, and in the upper-right area, find, and click on the “Settings” link.
Now, scroll down to the bottom, and in the “Browser connection” option, click on the “always use https” radio button, and then click on “Save Changes”.

That’s it. You’re done. Now your connection to the mail server will be encrypted and you’ll be protected from packet sniffers and “cookie-jacking“.

Tip 2) Sometimes programs get “corrupted” and just refuse to work right, and usually the way to repair them is to uninstall them (Add/Remove Programs), and then re-Install a fresh copy.
One of my more popular articles has been how to repair the hyperlinks function in IE when clicking on a link doesn’t open a new page (if that’s your issue, click here), and this tip goes a little further than that. (To see all my articles on Internet Explorer, click on “IE 7″ in my Categories widget.)

You can resolve many troublesome IE issues by “resetting” it (which also re-registers .dll’s).

[note: Export your Favorites to a file on your Desktop first, and then Import them again after the repair.]
For IE 7:
Click on “Tools” and then “Internet Options”.
On the Advanced tab, and then click the “Reset” button.

For IE 6:
[note: I highly, sincerely, and ardently, urge you to stop using IE 6, and switch to 7, or Firefox 3, or Avant, or whatever. Please? IE 6 is only the most hacked piece of software ever!]

a: Click Start, click Run, type “%systemroot%\inf” (no quotes) and then press Enter.
b: Find the Ie.inf file that is located in Windows\Inf folder.
c: Right-click the Ie.inf file, and then click Install.
d: Restart the computer when the file copy process is complete

Today’s free link: In one of the tips above, I mentioned Windows’ Add/Remove Programs tool (found in your Control Panel) which is the standard method for uninstalling programs from your machine. Long-time Windows users can attest that this utility doesn’t always work as it should, and completely remove all traces of the app you want gone. To really remove a program, you may want the power of a 3rd-party uninstall program, and the one that’s most recommended in the Geek community is Revo Uninstaller (also available in a portable version).

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

Share this post :

How To Limit Your Roommate’s Bandwidth

And Keep More For Yourself.

Tip of the day: If you are in a house with multiple computers, and you want to restrict “the amount of Internet” those other machines use, you can use settings (aka “options”) in your router and give yourself #1 priority.

Today’s topic comes from a question from a (younger) fella who lives with roommates, and they all “share” his connection.

Which is fine with him except for when their online activity slows down his surfing or online gaming.
So he wanted to know how to make sure he got “first dibs”. (Though I confess, he called it “more bandwidth”.)

You can think of today’s tip as a “tweak for better Internet speed”, if you’d like, though you’d be — technically– incorrect.

1) Open your browser and access the router’s Control Panel.

(See the first section, here: https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/protecting-your-network-use-your-router-for-access-control-repost/)

2) Find the Advanced Settings tab for “QoS”.
[note: refer to your make/model router’s documentation for the exact steps/menu choices — these are often listed on the side of your router’s control panel, or can be found on the manufacturer’s website.] (On a Linksys, that is under “Applications and Gaming”)

3) Give your PC’s MAC Address a rating of “Highest”
(To get the MAC, open a command prompt and enter “ipconfig /all”.)

* You might want to set other machines to “low”.

4) Save and exit.

That’s it, your done. Now your data packets will go first, and any other Internet user will have to wait for your request to finish.

[note: there are some other priority tweaks you can make here too. Click on the image to see large version, and note my arrows. And you can further “block” access by time, type, keywords, etc. My How To is here.]

[UPDATE: reader discussion of this topic has prompted me to write a further article. See, Restricting Roommates Internet Use – Continued.]

Today’s free download: EncryptOnClick is a very simple to use program that lets you securely encrypt and decrypt files.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

Share this post :

Encryption: say no to data theft*

If your laptop is stolen, will the thief be able to read your vital statistics and personal info? They will if you haven’t used encryption. They’ll have your passwords as well. Do you keep any confidential business files on your computer — like some doctors and Veteran’s Affairs employees do?

As I mentioned in my series on the NTFS file system (click here), Windows has the ability to encrypt your stored data as well as controlling access from networked computers. Enabling encryption is easy, and acts invisibly to the user (you) — and by that I mean your files will look like they always do, but to an “unauthorized user” they will look like a garbled alphabet soup of nonsensical gibberish.

Tip of the day: Encrypt your My Documents folder for top-notch security. To encrypt files and/or folders in Windows you must be using the NTFS file system, which most of you will already have on your machines (use the link above to read how to check, and convert to NTFS if neccessary). There are a few different ways to use encryption; you can encrypt individual files; you can encrypt entire folders and, by default, their subfolders; and, you can encrypt your hard drive (of import for laptop owners). The process for the first two are the same, while the third requires a different method.

[Vista Users: Microsoft says, “EFS is not fully supported on Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, and Windows Vista Home Premium.” Of course, what they mean by that is “NOT supported; and if you want it, spring for Ultimate Edition”. I recommend using the free TrueCrypt to encrypt your data.]

The simplest method to provide encryption to your personal data is to encrypt the My Documents folder, which I will use for purposes of demonstration — as I mentioned, doing so will encrypt all the files inside and also encrypt the contents of any subfolders. Start by right-clicking on the My Documents folder and selecting Properties…accessing the folder may be as simple as clicking the Start button or finding its icon on your desktop or you may have to click Start >My Computer >Local drive C:, depending on your settings and preferences.

When the My Documents folder’s Properties window opens, click on the “Advanced” button.

As you can see, my My Documents is set to “compressed”, but is not encrypted yet. Compression is another feature of NTFS that was very, very much sought-after in the days before giant hard drives (back then, we hadn’t heard of digital ID Theft) and is a method that uses an algorithm to shrink file sizes. You cannot, however, use encryption and compression at the same time, and today the value of the former far outweighs the latter. Fortunately, switching from one to the other requires no effort on your part, simply select “Encrypt contents to secure data” and the rest is automatic.
Now click “OK”, and then “Apply”. Whenever you encrypt a folder, you will be asked if you want to apply encryption to just that folder, or all the files and subfiles and folders; you want the latter, which is the default.
That’s it. You’re done. Your documents are now safe from “unauthorized” eyes.

That is true, unless the person trying to access your data has their hands on your machine and is able to ‘crack’ your User password (you have given your User Account a password, haven’t you?) which may be the case if your laptop is stolen. To prevent data loss in that type of a situation, you want to encrypt your whole startup process and password protect it…which in essence encrypts your whole hard drive. To do so, click Start >Run and then type in “syskey” (no quotes). Now click on the “Update” button.

Select the top radio button, “Password Startup” and enter a good, strong password. Then enter it again for confirmation. Be sure to write down your password and keep it in a safe place — should you ever forget it, it is not an easy task for even an experienced tech to get you back in to your machine.

A final thought: I think it only fair to tell you (what you may have already guessed/know) that a very knowledgable Evil Doer, if they have physical access to your machine, can often get around whatever security you have in place. The hacker expression is, “if I can touch it, I own it.” So please don’t be careless with your, or your company’s, vital data. Also, you may want to consider a more powerful, 3rd Party encryption tool like TrueCrypt.

Today’s free link: most of you already know that the World Wide Web is a wonderfully rich resource for researching information, but did you also know it is an excellent resource for digital images? Need a picture of the Golden Gate bridge to put into your child’s homework assignment? The place to start looking is Google Images.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

Share this post :

Simple E-mail Encryption

Who’s reading your e-mail? Are you sure it is only the person you sent it to? Could it hurt you, or your business, (or, your election campaign?) if someone else was reading it? Wouldn’t it be great if you could ensure that only the intended recipient could read it?

In prior articles, I have explained (in my limited way) that the encrypting of files, and sending them to someone else, where they then need to decode them, is best done by the exchanging of “keys” in what is called “Public-key encryption” (for Wikipedia’s explanation on that, click here). I will not be lecturing on that today.. though, I invite you to click the link if you’re interested in (or curious about) cryptography.

It is not hard to understand how encrypting your writing — so that it can travel across the Internet in an unreadable format — is a “good thing”.. a desirable thing.. and would have serious benefits.
The encrypting of e-mails is often required by businesses, and they install cool (and expen$ive) machines on their networks that automatically encrypts all company e-mail. But what about us? Here at home? How do we do it? Can it happen automatically.. like it does at our job? Well, yes and no. The first step is to get yourself a “key”.

I mentioned in a previous article that I had started using a new (to me) e-mail client (Windows Live Mail) to access my webmail accounts. Live Mail, and all other e-mail clients (Outlook, OE, Thunderbird, etc.) natively support the use of “keys”, and allow you so “sign” and/or encrypt your e-mail with a single click… assuming you have taken a couple of steps first.
You may have noted that I have been putting the word key inside quotes; that’s because when I’m speaking at the level of how crypto works, I am actually speaking about algorithms and when I talk about using those keys, I am talking about “Certificates”. To encrypt your e-mail you need to get a Certificate… which is really a key (pair). Confusing, I know.

Tip of the day: Get a Certificate for your e-mail account(s). There are several Certificate Authorities that offer free Certificates for the personal use in e-mail, but I have found that if you are using any Microsoft products.. or you suspect that your recipient(s) may be using Windows and/or Outlook (which is a fairly good bet), you want to get your e-mail certificate here:
Today’s free link: Comodo Free Email Certificate

Fill in the form, and use the e-mail address that you want to protect with encryption (If you use more than one e-mail address regularly, repeat this process for each one: each account needs its own Cert), and click on the “Advanced Private Key Options” link, and place a check in the “User protected?” checkbox, and enter a “Revocation password (twice). Click “Agree & C ontinue”.

A window will open telling you that a Certificate is being “requested on your behalf”.. agree. Now you will see the screen (pictured). Click “OK”.

If all goes as it should, the Comodo webpage will change to a “Congratulations!” page, and instructs you to check the Inbox of the account you created the Cert for. Do so. There will be an e-mail from Comodo containing a link. You will need to click it to complete the process (Copy>Paste links into the address bar of your browser, remember?!).

 

Your e-mail will look like this. When you’ve copy>pasted the e-mail’s link into your browser’s address bar, and requested the Cert download, Windows will then automatically try to install it for you, but needs your permission..

Click “Yes” to give it.

This tells you you’re done, and now you can digitally “sign” your e-mail.. which is the first real step to exchanging encrypted email.. which I will describe tomorrow.
Now, e-mail a link to this article to the person(s) you want private conversations with, and tell them to click the link and follow the Comodo wizard and get their key.. you’re going to need it. Once you and they do this, encryption is a click away.

The conclusion of this How To is now available here.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

Share this post :