When it comes to passwords nearly everyone has their own system to deal with them. But how secure are they? Today most passwords under 9 characters are not really deemed secure thanks in large part to the databases that are available to simply look up the passwords. But aren’t they encrypted or secured from prying eyes you may be thinking? Sure but the most common form is to save them in MD5. SHA1 and similar variants are uncommon as well as better methods but for the vast array of online web sites, MD5 is considered standard.
Continue reading 'How Secure Is Your Password?'»
Security
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As part of my constant survey of false and misleading job ads, I came across this interesting one on craigslist at this link. http://calgary.en.craigslist.ca/etc/1415300999.html
It tells us that if we participate in the “focus group” that we will get paid $100 for this. Well I’ve participated in many surveys and ‘focus groups’ and enjoy doing so, but many are not all they seem, and some are downright invasive about ‘knowing your personal lifestyle’ or worse, resellers of your information. So I decided to check it out and reply to the email listed in the ad as Haley.Axel@gmail.com. My first suspicion about this was when I received a reply almost immediately. Very rarely do ad responses get immediate replies, and instead of asking for a time to meet, it simply directed me to a ‘screener’ survey via Survey Monkeys. Well Survey Monkeys is a free online service anyone can use to generate surveys and submit them. So I’m thinking they wanted to stick me into doing a survey for free. Well the questions were in my mind serving nothing other than providing a clear redirect to the real company Lightspeed Reasearch, based in New Jersey, to ‘become a member’. Well membership is free so I’m thinking so far so good right?
Continue reading 'Focus Group Music Survey for $100 – I don’t think so.'»
Security
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How many times have you discovered that your hard disk is filling up even though you are not installing any applications. You think ‘do I really have that much data’, or you store your data on a separate drive from your OS and applications (something we recommend to all clients and friends) and cannot understand why your OS or application drive keeps filling up.
Chances are its because of the applications themselves either downloading content into it’s application directory, or it uses the windows ‘Application Data’ directory to store temporary or cached data, some cases even permanent data remains in these directories.
A good example of this is Google Earth that keeps it’s cache database in your Apps Data directory, and can easily exceed several gigabytes in size.
Or maybe you love the convenience of the “My Documents” directory and accessing it directly from the start menu, but don’t have enough room for your data.
Continue reading 'Moving Directories In Windows — Using Junctions'»
Computers & Tech
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I saw this comment today on a malware site and I normally read them to see how folks troll malware sites looking for blame.
Folks, malware is your problem, not anyone elses. I am constantly reminded how people fail to understand that its their actions and choices that cause the infections, and today social engineering is a big reason.
Even malware experts are not immune from falling victim to their tricks. Its been like this for years and outside of the increase in targetted attacks,
its still the #1 reason.
Continue reading 'Editorial: Understanding why Malware infects your PC'»
Security
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If you had an opportunity to view your local newspapers job classifieds this weekend you may well find an ad like this one. 
It looks like a highly sincere advertisement seeking folks who would like an opportunity like this. They obviously are seeking to appeal to anyone interested in a highly flexible and possibly rewarding (getting paid to shop) opportunity. The site seems to indicate a 4-12 hour work week on average and you are considered part time. This is all cool. However, what isn’t so cool is the lack of ANY security features for the sites ‘job application’ forms.
In my eyes this is very troublesome that anyone would submit this much personal information without any measures at encrypting the data to the site. And it wants a LOT of data from you.
Continue reading 'Looking for Work – Qualityshopper.org wants you, but does it secure your data?'»
Security
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