No matter how secure your password is, it is useless when your account is compromised by hackers. Nowadays it is so stupid and not secure for you to use the same password on different accounts. In other to stay a bit secure, it is recommended that you employ different passwords for different accounts you conduct online, so you don't lose all your fishes on a single boat.
A password manager isn't a reliable option in this case, except for those that can generate, change and manage unique, robust passwords for all your accounts sites and online activities.
Enable two-step verification
Two-step verification is one of the best ways to protect online accounts. Most commonly, the first step is entering your password and the 2nd step involves entering a code delivered on-demand to your phone. with this when if a hacker has your password, he doesn't have your phone, and won't be able to receive the passcode delivered to your phone. Therefore shouldn't be able to bypass that second step.
Of course, this requires you to have your phone close at hand and able to receive text messages or call to get the code.
You can also use an authorization app. It's also an extra measure in implementing security but nowadays it is advisable you go an extra measure in ensuring security environment for your online activities.
Keep an eye on your financial or credit accounts.
Your email address and some other personal details are associated with your financial, credit or debit card account. Nowadays most bank has systems in place to track suspicious activity. You can do your part by opening up your at-risk accounts and checking your account activity yourself. You'll know better than anyone if a purchase was yours or authorised by you or not.
Delete any old unused accounts
It is necessary you delete any old unused accounts. This is another way a password manager comes into consideration. When it first imports all your passwords, you can see a full list of every account you have. Then it's a matter of working your way through them and determining which ones you want to deactivate.
You'll have to manually visit each site in turn and figure out how to actually delete your account. You can also use Accountkiller to Delete pages of hundreds of services.
More passwords have been exposed
Recently 560 million passwords were exposed and surfaced online. MacKeeper security research centre reported that a huge database of stolen passwords has surfaced online. This database is composed of passwords from a variety of sources. Nowadays "Online safety" seems to be abstract but there are still steps you can take to protect yourself when breaches like this occur.
The surfaced database contains about 560 million passwords.
Here's how to check if you are compromised
Meet Have I Been Pwned, this tool will help check the surfaced database to see if your email address appears in any database that has been compromised.
3. Click Pwned? to Check if you have an account that has been compromised in a data breach
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Instagram Introduces 3D Touch feature to its Android app
The newest update of Instagram is almost identical to the iOS app’s use of 3D Touch. When you long press a thumbnail image (you’ll see this layout when searching or viewing someone’s profile) a full-size expansion of the photo will appear.
users can now long press on an image thumbnail to zoom in on it. Dragging their finger away from the center of the image shrinks it back down to thumbnail size, and moving over one of the buttons under the picture lets them like or share it without ever having to lift their finger. There's even a pleasant haptic feedback given when hovering over one of the buttons.
The new feature is enabled on version 7.13.0 of the app, which you can download from Play Store or grab the latest version from APK Mirror.
However, Instagram has not officially announced this new feature, It might be that there is some sorts of testing going or maybe Apple may ask them to remove this features.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
How to shop online safely
With some simple tips, you can make a safe online shopping experience this holiday season.
As the holiday season approaches, shopping online is an attractive option for grabbing plenty of bargains. Like any transaction, there are security issues to keep in mind when buying online, but with some common sense you can minimize the risks. Even if you consider yourself a seasoned online shopper, it's always worth a reminder to make sure your experience is the safest it can be.
General tips
Do not send your credit card details via email, post them on social media (even in a private message), or enter them on an unsecured website
Do not give away more information than you need. Retailers generally do not need to know details like your date of birth or social security number, so why if you do not have to disclose it?
Check for a physical address and contact details like phone numbers for the vendor before buying
Remember to log out of your account after making a purchase
Keep your PC, Mac or mobile device up to date
This means regularly checking for updates to your operating system, as well as ensuring the apps and browsers are also kept up to date with the latest version. Running regular antivirus and malware scans is recommended to help avoid compromising your personal details to tools such as keyloggers . Also, get into the habit of using strong, unique passwords for each online store you buy from. If you have not changed your password for an existing account in some time, do it now. Password managers are a great tool if you have trouble generating and remembering unique passwords.
Keep it private (and separate)
Avoid using public computers or public Wi-Fi when shopping online. This includes PCs library or airport. If you have to make a purchase when out and about, to turn on cellular data on your mobile device rather than using Wi-Fi. VPN is also a great option for adding another layer of security. It's worth using a separate browser that you keep up to date regularly for shopping and banking online, and another for everyday web user. Specifically considering opening a second email account for your online shopping Purposes to help minimize spam, and keep a track of which service is using your email address for what purpose. If you have a Gmail account, you can append a plus symbol (+) to the end of your username to help filter your email. Fr example, you could enter your email address in the format of "osho3mtech+amazon@gmail.co II "and the set up a filter in Gmail to address with you, so that everything goes straight to a label called" Amazon ".
Research your retailer
Make sure to fully check out the retailer's credentials if it's not a big name you have heard of before. A quick search of the site name should turn up results and reviews about the service, but keep an eye out for overly positive reviews on user forums That might not be legitimate.
Both a lock and the https in the URL show you that the site is using a secure connection via SSL.
,,,,, Ensure that the site is using a secure connection, which is marked by https: // in the browser bar and a number of other Indicators including an image of a lock. Some sites have an icon called a trust indicator that the security seal that shows that the retailer is independently verified by a third party, such as an antivirus provider.
Use a payment method with buyer protection
Although debit cards is the business name is is ensure you are using your own cash to make a purchase, many do not offer the same robust buyer protection as other options if something does go wrong. A credit card, PayPal or a virtual wallet option give you more flexibility when it comes to requesting a chargeback.
A chargeback is when a transaction is reversed and a refund is given to you as the buyer. It can either be Initiated by detection of fraudulent activity on your bank, or you can initiate a chargeback Depending on the situation. Check with your bank for details . Another option that you might consider using to add another layer of protection is a single-use credit card number. These are tied to your regular credit card in provice is a unique number to be used for one transaction so your actual credit card number is not compromised. This is Particularly useful if there is a breach somewhere along the chain that might reveal your credit card details. Again, check with your bank to see if this is an option. Although it makes it very convenient to make repeat Purchases, it is worth unchecking any option that lets the retailer store your credit card details on file. This way if your account is compromised, at least your financial details are not revealed.
Shopping on your smartphone or tablet
Apart from the tips outlined above, there are a few things to be aware of when shopping on a mobile device. Set a password, pattern or PIN lock on your smartphone, and adjust the settings so the screen automatically locks after a set period of inactivity . The vendor's own app might be a convenient way to make a purchase, find out what if it is using a secure connection to transmit your personal information and transaction details. If unsure, it's best to use the website through a mobile browser.
Turn off Bluetooth if you are not using it, and check: what applications are asking for permissions before you install them access. Also, jailbreaking or rooting your device may open up more features but it can not leave it more open to ThreatSense. Finally, if you lose your device and it has personal information on it such as credit card info, or you left it logged in to an account which has access to your credit card or bank details, make sure you can remotely wipe and disable your device . FOR iOS, enable Find My iPhone from the settings. Android users can use Google's Android Device Manager to remotely lock and erase the handset or tablet. Windows Phone owners can use the Find My Phone feature on windowsphone.co II to erase the handset if lost.
Calculate the total cost
Take into account shipping, sales tax and any other taxes or charges that might apply, especially when importing goods from overseas. Product does not suit or you need to get a refund? Check the retailer's policies before making the purchase to work out if you need to cover the return costs and any extra fees or charges you need to pay. It's also worth shopping around to find the best deal on the same product. Do not just assume your favorite online retailer is always going to have the best price, as you might be able to find a better deal elsewhere.
Something went wrong?
Your first port of call if something goes wrong with an online transaction should be the retailer. If you need to report identity theft or fraud, each country has a local service where you can report the issue. If something looks suspicious, it probably is. Regularly keep an eye out for online scams on the Relevant sites. Find information on usa.gov, Scam Watch in Australia, Action Fraud in the UK and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
LG unveils its new 'G Pay' mobile payment platform
The service could do well in Korea where LG has large market share, but it will be an uphill battle against Apple, Google and Samsung in the U.S.
There are many other products with the word “Pay” in the name. But that won’t stop LG, which just announced its mobile payment offering called G Pay.
Add it to the list of formidable foes: Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and of course Apple Pay.
LG made the rumor official Thursday with an announcement on its Facebook page. There could be some room for G Pay in South Korea, where LG has a heavy presence. But in the U.S. it will do battle with Android Pay, which is getting a major push from Google, while Samsung is also trying for attention with its own Samsung Pay. And, increasingly, credit card companies and banks are building mobile payments into their own apps.
At least Samsung’s solution differentiates itself by supporting Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), which allows you to pay at any terminal with a swipe reader. It picked up the technology when it acquired LoopPay, and supports NFC as well. By all accounts, it appears G Pay will work with the standard NFC model.
The true story: It seems everyone is jumping to the mobile payment System. However, with big giants like Google, Samsung, and Apple already in the ring.
If you don't Don't like any post, or update on Facebook? don't worry Soon, there will be a button for that.
"Not every moment is a good moment," said Facebook's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Q&A session at the company's headquarters. He said he realizes people may not want to "like" a current event such as the Syrian refugee crisis or a family member passing away. But he also doesn't want users to merely vote up or down on people's posts.
Ultimately, he said, he hopes to offer users a more expanded way to share their emotional reactions. "It's surprisingly complicated to make an interaction that's that simple," he said.
Friday, September 11, 2015
Website hackers hijack Google webmaster tools to prolong infections
The Google Search Console which was formerly known as the Google Webmaster Tools, is a very useful service for administrators to understand how their websites perform in search results.
In addition to providing analytics about search queries and traffic, it also allows webmasters to submit new content for crawling and to receive alerts when Google detects malware or spam issues on their websites.
That last part is very important, because website infections can quickly lead to lost traffic and reputation. Users who click on links in search results that lead to websites hosting malware or spam will receive scary warnings until those websites are cleaned by their owners.
Google allows more than one person to claim ownership over a website in his or her own Search Console accounts. That's not unusual because running a website usually involves multiple people. The owner, the site administrator and the search optimization specialist can, and often are, separate individuals and they can all benefit from the Search Console data in their respective roles.
Getting verified as a website owner in the context of the Google Search Console can be done in different ways, but the easiest is to upload an HTML file with a code that's unique for every user into the website's root folder.
However, many of the vulnerabilities that allow attackers to inject malicious code into websites also give them the ability to create rogue files on the underlying Web servers. Therefore, they can use such flaws to verify themselves as new website owners in the Google Search Console by creating the needed HTML files.
Such abuses are actually increasingly common, according to researchers from Web security firm Sucuri, who have seen many webmasters complaining on technical support forums about rogue owners showing up in their Google Search Console.
According to the Sucuri researchers, by becoming verified owners for compromised websites, attackers can track how well their BHSEO campaigns perform in Google Search. They can also submit new spam pages to be indexed faster instead of waiting for them to be discovered naturally by Google's search robots, they can receive alerts if Google flags the websites as compromised, and, most importantly, they can remove legitimate owners of the site from the Search Console.
whenever legitimate website owners receive "new owner" notifications from Google, webmasters should thoroughly investigate them.
"In most cases it means that they had full access to your site, so you should close all the security holes and remove any malicious content that the hackers might have already created on your site," Sinegubko said.
