Android phones and gooligan malware -Don't Panic

Gooligan malware and android phones.

A couple of days ago it was in announced that Google has suffered a massive malware infection affecting over one million android users across the globe.

A security firm named Check Point Technologies was the one the found this malware and announced it. There is a website they have posted where users can enter the email account they use for  google (usually is a gmail account) and it will let the users know if the account has been compromised.  Below is the link.

Gooligan Check Point

Tips for today:

DON'T PANIC

1) If your phone or tablet is running androig 6.0 (marshmallow) or newer, then it is not affected.
2) Moreover if you only install apps on your phone from the google play store and don't install apps from third party places then more likely your account hasn't been compromised.

WHO REALLY NEEDS TO WORRY?

If you own an old phone (running android 4.0 kitkat or 5.0 lollipop ) and are the kind of user that likes to jail brake the phones or install apps from third party app stores (other than amazon) in order the get free apps that are supposed to be paid. Then you might be infected.


I want to wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2017.

See you soon with more tips :)

Microsoft Clutter.... very cool feature.

Clean clutter free inbox.

I am sure by now you have met the new folder /tool included on your  microsoft's email accounts. They named it "clutter".

What about junk email ? you  might be asking. Well , clutter is not the same as junk.   Although both will be filtered out of your inbox, junk email is evaluated and filtered first, then after that, clutter analyzes the remaining messages and filters out the types of messages that you usually ignore or don't respond to.

This means that clutter is a very smart feature that filters emails according to the user's behavior!.

So what to do if you see some emails in the clutter box that you want them on your inbox?

Move then to inbox and clutter will get the signal that you want that particular emails on your inbox.

So my tip for today:

If you are having issues with clutter filtering important emails out of your inbox, just get in the habit of check your clutter folder and parse it to find message that you might not consider clutter.

See you soon with more tips.

Trojans, viruses and other malware.

Think before you open a file or link. Practice safe internet practices.

I wanted to talk to you about the difference between trojans, viruses and other malware.

randsomware

Viruses: A computer virus is a type of software that normally self replicates and can spread copies of themselves. Many times without the user interaction.

Trojans (trojan horse) : Trojan is another type of malware named after the wooden horse the greeks used to infiltrate Troy. It is a harmful software that looks legitimate. Users are tricked to execute the program in the believes that is something good or something the were looking for.

Ransomeware : Ransomeware is a type of malware that restricts the user from accessing its computer or personal files and demands the user to pay a ransom.

There are other kinds of malware out there as worms, bots, spyware, etc.

Many times, users feel safe to surf the web or opening files or attachments on the emails because their computers have an antivirus installed. However, in the case of trojan horses, if the user click yes or execute a file, that will install the malware and the antivirus won't stop it.

How to prevent it? the best way to prevent from getting a virus or trojan or ransomeware is practicing safe internet surfing and backing up files,

My tips for today:

1. use an antivirus
2. choose strong passwords
3. backup your files (either on a dvd, flashdrive, cloud). My favorite is in the cloud. (one drive, google drive, dropbox, etc)
4. use email and internet safety. Ignore unsolicited emails. Don't open attachments unless you know the sender and you were expecting it.
5. Avoid untrustworthy downloads, freeware, etc.

See you soon with more tips.

A list of passwords to avoid.

The list of the most common passwords and thus the easier to hack.

Last night I was watching the news while cooking dinner and there was this news that capture my attention.

worst passwords of 2014

It was a list of the worst passwords for the year 2014 and the number one was "123456" and second in the list was "password". The worst part was when Ryan Williams said that those where the perennials in the list. The list is published by Splahsdata and company dedicated to security applications and services.

They came out with such a list by compiling from more than 3.3 million leaked passwords during the year 2014. The compiled info came mostly from North America and Western Europe.

My tip for today:

Although  the name password suggest "word" it is better if we think about a pass phrase. That means 2 or 3 words and numbers to make a most secured password. For example 2hot2handle or AuntLucy0hi0. Use phrases that mean something to you so you can remember them and include numbers or symbols to add difficulty.

see you soon with more tips.

Where did i Put that Email? ...Skip the Email, just share it on your google drive.

Advantages of using Google drive or other shared spaces.

I would like to list some reasons to start using cloud storage and stop using email as your only collaborating tool.

Where did i put that email??

• Space limitations. Must emails have a quota of how much data can be sent through an email. So if you have a large file or picture, it is not possible to send via email.

• Different versions of the same document. Sometimes while collaborating the document that is being work on has several revisions or versions and it would be hard to keep up with which is the latest version when you have several email with attachments and worse if several people is modifying the same document. On a shared document it is only one document that is online, and of course that would be the latest version.

• Save one log in. This might not apply to everybody, but in our district, students that use chromebooks, have to log in on wifi, then to their google account and since the only email they can access is the one provided by the district (microsoft) then, there it goes another log in if the document is sent by email. However if it is shared, they would be able to see it on their google drive without having to log in.

• Privacy settings. The user that shared the file can decide who can view or who can edit the 

• Better organised. It is a bad practice but users tend to use their email as a cloud storage and then have a hard time trying to keep up with it.

I am sure that there are other advantages that i didn't cover but those are all I could come up with really fast.

So my tip for today:

Stop using your  email as a cloud storage.  Start using your google drive or one drive, after all they work better for collaborating and they are free :).

See you soon with more tools.