TuneUp Utilities 2012 Giveaway (+Miscellany)

Hard to believe it is Thursday already.. Let’s see what is going on in the world, shall we?

• Facebook says 600,000 account logins compromised EVERY DAY

“Facebook said this week that hackers using stolen username and password credentials try to break into at least 600,000 accounts every day on the mammoth social networking site.” Read more..

(The capitalization in the title was mine. There’s pirates in these waters.. be careful folks.)

• It seems it is not too early to start shopping.. or start thinking about shopping, for the coming holiday season. For those of you who might be in need of some gift ideas, Amazon has a helpful list of Top Picks…

Here’s one everybody should read.. (even us savvy types.)

• The thousand-dollar penalty for reusing passwords

“You can find no end of advice on creating strong passwords, using clever tricks, stats, mnemonics, and such.

But all too frequently we (and I include myself in this rebuke) tend to reuse little passwords at what we think are inconsequential sites. It’s a big mistake — here’s why.” Read more..

• My giveaway of TuneUp Utilities 2012 closes at midnight (Pacific) tonight. For the 4-1-1, click here.

• Turn Your Photos Into Something Awesome with iPiccy Photo Tools

“There is quite a lineup of online image editors these days, but there is one I bet you have not tried..” Read more..

• Amazon’s latest Prime gambit: Kindle book lending

“The Kindle lending program may just be one part of the kitchen sink Amazon plans to toss into its Prime subscription service.” Read more..

(For the more advanced…)
• Duqu: father, son, or unholy ghost of Stuxnet?

“Three U.S. Air Force information security experts, independent of their role in the military, studied the Duqu trojan, and you might be surprised by what they found. This is the first article in a two-part series that examines the sophisticated threat that everyone is talking about.” Read more..

Today’s free download: FavBackup

FavBackup provides an easy-to-use tool for backing up and restoring Web browser data. Its simple layout and excellent results make it a great way to save your important Web browser information.

Back up all your bookmarks, browsing history, cookies, and more with a single click of a button. FavBackup will work with a wide range of Web browsers, including Mozilla’s Firefox, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, Flock, and even Opera.

Today’s quote: “The first gold star a child gets in school for the mere performance of a needful task is its first lesson in graft.” ~ Philip Wylie

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Some Tips for Online Shopping* | Friday Fun

Busy! So, I am re – posting the following Basic Internet Shopping Tips in the hopes that Tech–for Everyone readers will not join the 12 million Americans who had their identities stolen last year. Please review this short checklist, and be a smarter, safer shopper.

• Download/Install Software Updates — Regularly!
• Use Complex Passwords (include numerals and symbols — @#$%^&*[])
• Use ‘Onetime’ Credit Cards.
• Verify Secure Connections before entering any info.
  See that little padlock symbol at the bottom of your screen, and in the URL address bar?
• Check Your Credit report – make it a routine.
• Enter Your Shopping Site’s Web Address Manually, and double-check your typing (embedded links = no!).
• Shop From Your Own computer (not a public ‘hotspot’).
• Enable your browser’s phishing filter, or install an add-on. (such as the super-easy WOT toolbar)
• Do not Send Credit Card Information Over E-mail. Even if you think it’s secure. Don’t send it over IM either. If you feel uncomfortable about sending personal information online, call up the business.

I would like to direct your attention to the first bulletpoint. The programs on your computer need to be fully “patched” with the latest updates, as exploiting weaknesses is the primary method hackers use to infect your machines. (You visit a website that they’ve ‘poisoned’, and if you have an unpatched ‘hole’ [aka “vulnerability”], bingo – you’re infected.)

How do you know if you have the latest updates? For all your installed programs? Do you think you are patched? Don’t guess. Be sure! Keep reading!

Today’s free download: Secunia offers a tool that I highly recommend. The online scanner (which you should bookmark, btw) will scan your machine for roughly 100 programs and tell you if there is a patch/update you need. If you go this route, I suggest you visit once or twice a week.)
Better yet, they offer a download, a Personal Edition, which will scan your system against a database of over 7,000 programs.
Even better yet, it includes direct download links to the missing patches it finds.

I just ran it and it found an old ActiveX plug in, and told me that my Java Runtime Environment was out of date.. and I didn’t think I had installed JRE on this machine!

Related: Careful online shopping (a repost)

“It appears that we’ve reached a point where more people are doing their gift-buying online than at the mall.  It’s a fact: there are more reasons to do your shopping online this year than there were before ($3.49-per-gallon reasons)”

* Original posting: 12/20/08

Friday Fun (video):

Today’s quote: “The world is governed more by appearance than realities so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.” ~ Daniel Webster (1782 – 1852)

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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