Password Security

Computer Care: The password is ... Best bet is to mix it up

	By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: October 19, 2012 11:59 p.m.

	Passwords are part of computing; there is no way around that. If you use a computer and the Internet, you will eventually need to use them. You may or may not need a password to log onto your computer, but one was needed to get your email this morning. Even if you didn’t have to manually type one in, your computer recalled it for you. I use a password manager and also allow Google Chrome to remember my passwords for me. There are 15 or so of them that I refer to on a regular basis to access various websites like email, my cloud storage, Amazon and other ecommerce sites that I frequent. There are also banking PIN numbers, alarm keypad codes and wireless router keys which are forms of passwords. You may use one to gain entry to your smart phone. Call them what you will, but any series of alpha-numeric codes you use to access something secretly is a password. There is no easy way for most of us to remember all of those codes, especially when choosing different ones for each site or application. If you use the same password for all of your websites and accounts, all could be compromised if just one is. So why take a chance? The poor choices are the obvious ones like your birthday or anniversary dates, your street, pet or your children’s names. Don’t choose the easy options. Stir it up a bit. Spell out anything that you can remember. Chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate syrup becomes ccicwcs; then add a number or symbol or caps. The end result could be CCiCwCs9*. Stir things up even more; spell things backward. A. Jones becomes senoja, then add numbers, caps or symbols to spice it up, like senojA5#. Be creative. Instead of your dog’s name, try using mydogbubba. Add caps or symbols for even more security as in mydogbubbA*7 or shorten it to dogbubbA*7. Backward, bubba becomes abbub. While on the topic of passwords and email, spam is something we all unfortunately get with email. One of the easiest ways to get spam is by having your email address sold to online merchants. The best way to avoid that is to be careful to whom and where you use your email address. Many times when you subscribe to a newsletter or sign up for something, it’s stated your address won’t be sold. Often times though, it is. That’s where most spam originates. One way to avoid this is to create secondary additional Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or other accounts that you won’t regularly check or only to verify a subscription that you just signed up for. When the inbox is full on this throw-away account, just sign up for another. An alternative is to use a Disposable Email Account. I use yopmail, but there are many others to choose from. They include Dispostable, Dudmail, MailExpire, DeadAddress, Spamex, Incognito Mail, Dodgeit, Yopmail and Mailinator. All work basically the same way. You create a name, they offer an extension and a duration with most adding the ability to check the account for incoming mail. Sometimes you can get away with simply making up an address with a nonexistent domain and have it work. I’ve used xyz5@abcmail.com, but if a response is required, then that strategy won’t work. Recently, I signed up for a free sample online that required me to click on a link in an email to verify my address. Using yopmail, I created an address on the fly and checked it from their site (the same page I used to create it) a few minutes later. There was the link. You don’t need to commit anything to memory; just create a new name next time you need a DEA. Remember to change your passwords regularly. Use password managers like LastPass, Roboform or Password Safe to help you recall them. Although less secure, you could simply allow your browser to remember them for you. Visit pwnedlist.com to see if your email address has ever been hacked. Choose passwords that are unique for every account, not the same one for all of them and give them to no one. The longer the better. Use at least eight to 10 characters and mix them up with caps, numbers and symbols. There’s a password generator at random.org if you have trouble on your own. Don’t fall for phishing scams. Beware of any emails or websites asking you to provide sensitive personal information. Not even your bank will ask you for your password. Avoid using addresses, birthdays or dog’s names. To circumvent spam effectively, use disposable email accounts. The end result will yield higher security for your accounts with less paranoia about being hacked. As easy as it has become these days to have your privacy compromised, you want to make it as difficult as you possibly can. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Email scams

Computer Care: Beware of costly email scams

By Arthur Glazer
glazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: August 20, 2011 1:00 a.m.

Computers are getting faster as prices drop. Facebook dominates the Internet and email scams from Nigeria and various mystery lotteries continue to fill my spam box.

I receive about a dozen of these notices each week. The most recent stated I had won $350,000 in the Blackberry Online Promotion.

Not only do I not own a Blackberry device, but it is supposedly a raffle draw, or a lottery. Don't you have to purchase tickets in a lottery before you can win it? Obviously not everyone asks themselves that question, because many do respond.

I also regularly receive emails from the Minister of Finance in Nigeria, announcing my winnings. They must be constantly replacing the minister, because I can't help but notice, each email lists a different minister.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the number of people falling for the Nigerian scam is steadily increasing. In 2005, more than 55,000 people lodged complaints, up three times the amount from 2003. Following that rate, the number today would be just shy of a million.

The FTC also states that the number of people who actually file complaints is low, compared to the amount that are suckered into the scheme. People are simply ashamed to come forward. According to authorities, only 15 percent of fraud victims report their losses.

The U.S. Secret Service may also get involved with combating these crimes, but will not investigate unless there is a monetary loss of at least $50,000.

The Nigerian Scam 419, as it is called, is the third most lucrative Nigerian industry, generating more than $5 billion in the past 20 years. It got its name "419" from the Nigerian criminal code that deals with the crime.

Advance-fee fraud is another name for the Nigerian scam. This is a crime that asks for money up front in order to get more money. You pay a fee, and usually more than one, to procure you winnings - or not.

Scams evolve. The advance-fee fraud is similar to an older "Spanish prisoner" scam, where in exchange for money to bribe prison guards, a wealthy prisoner is promised a share of supposed treasure.

The reason so many of us continue to see these scams is because the scammers are getting enough responses to make it worth their while. You wouldn't think they would keep sending those emails year after year, but sending spam costs the spammer nothing.

Hypothetically, let's say they send a million emails (usually more) and 10 people respond. Each is suckered out of a mere $5,000 (usually much more). The Nigerian reprobate just made $50,000 sitting at his desk sending email.

More realistically, they may send 10 million emails, which follows with 100 respondents. That yields $500,000. Now that makes it worth sending those emails.

Similar email schemes involve work-at-home scams where you would take in money for a company and forward it to them from your account. You would then supposedly be compensated for it. Again you lose, as their checks ultimately bounce.

Another trap is charity scams. They tug on your heart strings asking for donations for accident victims, missing children, national disasters and so on. If you are solicited by a group for money, ask them questions before you agree to anything. Find out who they are. Ask if they could call you later or is there a call-back number? They will most likely hang up on you at that point.

A study by the Dutch firm Ultrascan shows last year advanced-fee scams resulted in losses more than $9 billion. Since they began about two decades ago, more than $41 billion in losses have been reported.

We recently got a phone call from supposed reps from the IRS (even though caller ID said Kingston, Jamaica) telling us we were winners in an IRS lottery. My wife joyously shouted to me that we had won and played along momentarily before she asked the silver-tongued miscreant if his mother knew what he did for a living - and then hung up.

We knew someone who was sucked into a similar scam. She was educated and intelligent. After going through tens of thousands of dollars, she maxed out her credit cards to these guys and ultimately had a stroke.

Those who fall for the scams are from all different areas of life demographically, having one thing in common: the greed of wanting or needing quick money.

To avoid becoming a victim:

- Don't succumb to pressure to respond quickly.
- Don't give money to a cause you don't fully understand.
- Ask where and with whom the firm is registered.
- Request written information.
- Do your own research about the company.
- Ask that information be sent to a financial adviser.
- Don't provide or verify any personal information.
- When in doubt, hang up or don't reply to emails.

If you have been victimized, forward appropriate written documentation to the United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20223.

If you have to send money to win money, there is something wrong with the picture - and you don't want to be in it.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.