Phishing — what it is and tips

The May issue of HP’s “Technology at Work” contains some useful information on phishing scams. Phishing is the act of posing as a familiar, trustworthy entity in electronic communications and using that familiarity and trust to get recipients to release confidential information, such as passwords and bank account numbers. The article summarizes tips to detect… Continue reading Phishing — what it is and tips

Mobile app’s tracking your location — when enough is enough

A March 25, 2015 Wired article “Apps Snoop on Your Location Way More Than You Think” struck my attention. IT’S LITTLE SURPRISE that mobile apps regularly access our location data. In many cases, it’s a sensible deal. Maps, weather apps, social networks, and shopping services serve up useful info based on where we are. But… Continue reading Mobile app’s tracking your location — when enough is enough

PC Security Tips — common tricks

PC World’s latest article “How to protect your PC against devious security traps” provides a useful summary of malicious attacks: Phishing Bogus email Fake warnings Out-of-date app exploits Zero-day attacks Port sniffing

Windows 7 Mainstream Support Ends — what this means

Ref: As Windows 10 approaches, Microsoft will no longer offer free help and support for the ageing but still popular Windows 7 Don’t panic. If you’re using a Windows 7 PC, here’s what the announcement means. On January 13, 2015, Microsoft changed the status of Windows 7 support from “mainstream” to “extended” phase. Security patches… Continue reading Windows 7 Mainstream Support Ends — what this means

Got Chromebook? — many did this holiday

I’ve been recommending Chromebooks since 2013 — for those who mostly live on the Web (Webmail, browsing) and are comfortable with Google’s ecosystem (Gmail, etc.). Well, PC World noted that the holiday season was big for Chromebook sales on Amazon — Amazon’s three top-selling computers for the holidays were… Chromebooks Amazon said Friday the top… Continue reading Got Chromebook? — many did this holiday