christopherhord

Posts Tagged ‘Internet’

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10 simple security tips for web users

In Internet, Society, Technology on July 19, 2011 at 7:33 pm

It seems like I’ve been seeing more friends with hacked accounts this year. I had breach earlier this year myself. I’ve been thinking about security more these days. As more of our lives go online, techniques that used to be sufficient aren’t any more.

People like top 10 lists so here are 10 easy steps to improve your security, Even adding one will sure help. They don’t all have to be done, or done at the same time, I hope you’ll read and I hope these help:

1.    Secure your e-mail. This is key. Your e-mail is what you will use to re-set your Security is importantpasswords — and get alerts — so this needs to be secure. Do not use the same combination of username and password for your e-mail that you use for anything else. Choose a strong password.
2.    Know what makes a password strong. Make it as long as practically possible. Combine uppercase and lowercase letters. Use numbers and special characters. Make every password as strong as you can make it. Use a password generator when you can.
3.    Use a password generator. There are several options turned up in a Google search. I don’t know how secure they are. I’m sure there are reputable versions of standalone programs or apps. I’ll have to look for something. You can certainly get one included in a larger suite, such as a password manager.
4.    Get a password manager. It doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming to set-up and at least one major option is free. I got my start at this Lifehacker article “Five Best Password Managers” (May 2, 2010). They highlighted five programs — KeePass (Windows/Mac/Linux/Mobile, Free), Roboform (Windows, Basic: Free/Pro: $29.95), LastPass (Windows/Mac/Linux/Mobile, Basic: Free/Premium: $1/month), SplashID (Windows/Mac/Mobile, Desktop: $19.95/Mobile:$9.95), 1Password (Mac OS X/iPhone, Desktop: $39.95/iPhone:$14.95). KeePass is open source, which matters a lot to some folks. LastPass may have been hacked, which is not good, but might make them even more vigilant. The main point is, it’s important to have help, if you’re going to have a lot of unique username/password combinations.
5.    Have as many unique username/password combinations as you can. It’s this simple — any username and password combination that is used in more than one location is much less secure. And each time you re-use that combination, it gets worse. This mixes well with the previous tip, obviously, but you can easily start this one at any moment you’re online. Think of anyplace you use the same username/password combination. This info will be important to fix soon. But for now you can get by with changing the logins that are really important to you.
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Will your Internet break on June 8th?

In General, Hardware, Internet, Society, Technology on June 7, 2011 at 9:27 pm

Tomorrow, June 8th, is World IPv6 Day and you’ll probably be able to connect to the Internet with no problems, but you may experience unusual or unexpected issues using the ‘net. Here’s what’s going on and why.

World IPv6 Day is June 8th

World IPv6 Day June 8th!

The “IPv6” we’re talking about here is a number which is assigned to any device — like a computer or printer — that uses the Internet. If you look up information from your network or Internet service provider (ISP), somewhere in that information, you’ve probably seen an address like “172.16.254.1”. That is your IP address (and that example shows the old format, an IPv4 address). This format provides enough variations to allow about 4,294,967,296 addresses (says Wikipedia).

The only problem is that the internet has become the victim of its own success. So many devices are connected to the Internet that those 4,294,967,296 addresses will be used up this year. Therefore, many website owners and network operators are switching to a new system called IPv6. Instead of the 32-bit binary number IPv4 , IPv6 will use a 128-bit number. You don’t have to be a math whiz to figure out this is going to make oodles of new addresses available (oodles, being the technical term).

Most Internet users will not notice a difference. Your home ISP or your office network is probably being updated to provide this functionality. In addition, only a handful of the Internet’s largest sites (such as Yahoo and Google) are rolling out IPv6 tomorrow (and they’ll still have regular IPv4 servers available). If you have a standalone device, such as a wireless, Internet-capable printer, you may have to download updates to the machine. If you run your own network servers, hopefully you’re already aware of this issue. If not, get more information from the Internet Society here.

If you’d like to test your connection, you can do so at this IPv6 test site.