SiteVision August News & Tips

2 August 2013

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Categories: Information, News, Technology

IN THE NEWS

Online Hacking. You Are A Target.

Congratulations. You haven’t been hacked yet. The bad news? You probably will be. While online companies promise to keep your information private, recent history suggests it’s pretty much an empty promise.

Think Zappos – about 30 million accounts hacked. Living Social – 50 million. Oh, and by the way, a majority of breaches occur for financial accounts. And that’s just a tiny sampling. Scary, huh? As the saying goes there are only two types of online companies: those that have been hacked and those that are about to be.

That means you have been or likely will be attacked – Really. Truly. No fooling. So what to do? One nifty program, MaskMe, is an easy to use browser add-on and mobile app designed to protect your email account, your phone number and your credit cards and your passwords. It acts as your personal, kung-fu bodyguard, so to speak. Cnet and others give it high marks. Abine,
the company who created MaskMe, is also the creator of “Don’t Track Me,” another useful program to prevent online retailers, thieves, social networks, etc from tracking you as you browse the internet.

The moral: while you may not care if your tweets get hacked, you really don’t want your bank account, your credit cards, or your personal identity in the hands of the evil-doers! So do yourself a favor, and do something now.

Oh, and by the way. At the very least, check out our previous article on basic Password Strategies.

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SiteVision’s Statewide Hosting Award – Customer How To Guide.

As we’ve mentioned, SiteVision was honored to be awarded a VITA (Virginia Information Technology Agency) statewide contract for the Commonwealth’s electronic government (eGov) services. The contract is for advanced Hosting and related technologies. All Virginia public bodies, including state agencies, universities, school systems and localities, can use the eGov contracts.

In addition to traditional hosting technologies, SiteVision offers customized solutions such as GIS, Cloud, Data-Driven, SAAS and IAAS options.

Now, to help customers transition more easily, we’ve provided a useful “How To Get Started” guide that provides step-by-step assistance. You can find it by visiting SiteVision and download the PDF. In addition, you can contact SiteVision with any questions you might have, or ask us for guidance on how best to accomplish your hosting goals.

As always, we’re anxious to make your hosting experience the best it can be!

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Did Google’s “ChromeCast” & New Nexus 7 Get the Drop on Apple?

And did Google’s nifty little streaming gadget wow? Oh, yes! While there’s room for improvement, what’s not to like about a little $35 thumb-drive sized USB streaming device that plugs into your HDMI TV and uses almost any of your devices as a remote control. For example: open your Netflix or the You Tube app on any device and stream away. The app doesn’t steam. It’s sends a signal to the ChromeCast device. It’s amazingly simple and easy to set up according to reviews. And did we say this innovative little streaming device is about as inexpensive as you can get? TechCrunch is among those who really like it.

The new Nexus 7 was another show stopper. It sports the highest resolution to date of any tablet out there – a simply gorgeous screen. Apple, did you hear that? Cnet calls it “ . . . the best small tablet you can buy.” The basic specs? Android 4.3, a 1,920 x 1,200 IPS display, 2GB of RAM, a rear camera, a quad-core processor and wireless charging Pricing is quite impressive as well – $229 for a 16G with wifi; 269 for a 32G with wifi. No doubt there are a few discounts (or will be) beyond the published pricing from Google.

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Welcome New Hosting Customers!

dcr.virginia.gov — VA Dept of Conservation
mrc.virginia.gov — VA Marine Resources Commission
dof.virginia.gov — Virginia Department of Forestry
vbbe.virginia.gov — Virginia Board of Bar Examiners
dma.virginia.gov — VA Dept of Military Affairs
mvdb.virginia.gov — Motor Vehicle Dealer Board
dyslexiadash.com — Dyslexia Dash
buyvrabonds.com — Virginia Resource Authority
virginiaresources.org — Virginia Resource Authority

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A Reminder: Google Publishes Online Phishing and Malware Scams

Google has said it will begin to regularly publish Internet security data on malware and phishing scams that infect computers and steal consumer information. The weekly reports will include the number of offending sites and their map locations. The company said it finds about 10,000 such sites a day. Google will also disclose government and law enforcement requests for user data. The data will be included in Google’s Transparency Report. The data comes from Google’s Safe Browsing program, which the company uses to find and flag malicious sites across the Internet.

Was Your Password Hacked Today?

29 July 2013

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Categories: Information, News, Security, Technology

[image source_type=”attachment_id” source_value=”3446″ align=”left” size=”small 150 width” autoHeight=”true” quality=”90″] UPDATE: Whoa! Facebook says hackers try to steal your stuff about 600,000 times daily. A more recent example: Zappos online store was hacked and hackers gained information on 24 million customers. Living Social about 50 million. While full Zappos customer credit card information wasn’t compromised, all customer passwords had to be deleted. We’re sure you’ve heard of other scary hacks. Online financial information is a huge target. So if you’ve been a little lax about your passwords, it’s really time sit up and take notice.

So, what to do?

First, Avoid These Common Mistakes

Creating Your Password

Special Tip:

Use a pseudo-random phrase: A great way to create a unique password is to think of a phrase only you would know, and then use letters, numbers and symbols to create the password:

Unique Passwords For Your Important Accounts

Never use the same passwords for your important banking, stock, healthcare and personal information accounts. Hackers test stolen passwords and usernames from a particular site across many internet sites, meaning your identity and banking and stock resources could be severely compromised with single use passwords. Give each of these account types a unique password!

Keep Your Password Reminders In A Safe Place

Most of us couldn’t possibly remember all of our passwords to all of the sites we commonly use. So, if you decide to save your passwords, don’t leave notes with your passwords lying around in plain sight.

If you save your passwords in a file, create a unique name for the file, so that people don’t know what’s inside. Avoid giving the file an obvious name, such as “my passwords”; instead use a unique file name. Better yet, password protect it – just make sure you can remember the password!

Password managers are available through your security programs and elsewhere, but spend the time to check out reputable resources. If you have a difficult time remembering different passwords, a trusted password manager may be a good solution.

Need A Better Password: There are numerous password generators, but make sure you use a reputable one! As an example, here is a quick PC Tools online version: http://www.pctools.com/guides/password

By following some simple, but important rules, you can substantially reduce or eliminate your chances of having critical information such as your banking, credit card and identity stolen!

Check Out Other New Protection Methods:

As hacking and tracking become neary ubiquitous in our everyday browsing, do a little homework on browser based or device software that hides your identity, email, credit card info and more.

SiteVision News & Tips: May 2013

3 May 2013

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Categories: Information, Mobile Solutions, News, Technology

New Rules for SiteVision Email!

To comply with Anti-Spam regulations and standards:

As of April 16, new passwords must: be at least 8 characters long and contain a capital letter, lower case letter, and number.

By now, you are surely aware of our new email account requirements, limits and password requirements. It’s become a really critical issue for you and for all of us in the digital world.

In an internal review, we have discovered that most of your SiteVision email passwords could be easily hacked using a standard desktop computer.

Since nonsensical passwords can be difficult to remember, consider using a pass-phrase that reminds you of something, or is familiar. Examples: iLuv2shop, d0n’tskipLunch, meetMyQu0ta, and so forth.

For the full scoop visit this article at our Help Desk and our tutorial on passwords

Helpful Email Tips

Use Unique Passwords for Your Important Accounts. Never use the same passwords for your important banking, stock, healthcare and personal information accounts. Hackers test stolen passwords and user-names from a particular site across many Internet sites, meaning your identity and banking and stock resources could be severely compromised with single use passwords. Give each of these account types a unique password!

Keep your password reminders in a Safe Place. Most of us couldn’t’t possibly remember all of our passwords to all of the sites we commonly use. So, if you decide to save your passwords, don’t leave notes with your passwords lying around in plain sight. If you save your passwords in a file, create a unique name for the file, so that people don’t know what’s inside. Avoid giving the file an obvious name, such as “my passwords.”

No More Parking Tickets?

Several clever new mobile apps not only help you park, but check your meter and find your car, too. ParkMe for Apple displays the closest parking and real time availability. Another, HONK, for iPhone & iPad checks your meter, records where you parked your car and reminds you where to find it again. Waze, for Apple and Android, is a social GPS app lets you get up to the minute traffic, detours and such from fellow travelers. Take a look at this USA Today video here. You can also visit the app sites: ParkMe Honk Waze

Devs: If You Don’t Play Nice, Google Will Brick Your Google Glasses.

For those of you developers who rushed to purchase Google Glasses for development purposes and paid a hefty price, don’t get silly and try to sell, rent, loan or otherwise try to make a penny or two off of your prized possession. Best to stick to the challenge at hand: developing apps for the device. Cnet gives you the details

Aw, Our Beloved Mouse Is Probably Going, Going, Gone!

How long have we had that faithful little companion around? Would you believe about 60 years? And now, it seems inevitable, perhaps, that mousey will bite the dust. Here’s one example of a 3D finger-mounted device called Mycestro that’s in the works.

Holy Moly! Oracle Fixes 42 Holes in Java.

In an effort to calm the stormy seas, Oracle has released a patch that fixes not one, not two, but 42 Java vulnerabilities. While some recommendations have included disabling Java entirely, many companies have legacy software that relies on Java and have pushed for safer implementation. You can read about it here.

Was Your Password Hacked Today?

26 January 2012

No comments

Categories: Hosting Solutions, Information, News, Technology

[image source_type=”attachment_id” source_value=”3446″ align=”left” size=”small 150 width” autoHeight=”true” quality=”90″] Whoa! Facebook says hackers try to steal your stuff about 600,000 times daily. A more recent example: Zappos online store was hacked and hackers gained information on 24 million customers. While full customer credit card information wasn’t compromised, all customer passwords had to be deleted. We’re sure you’ve heard of other scary hacks. So if you’ve been a little lax about your passwords, it’s really time sit up and take notice.

So, what to do?