Ask Abby

First Time Visitors

Posts Tagged ‘Security’

HOW TO DETECT AN EMAIL SCAM

Do you open the door to your home to strangers? I didn’t think so. Then why would you open an email from someone you don’t know? It happens more and more that fake emails arrive in your inbox with a subject meant to scare you into action: “Unsuccessful Attempts to Access Your Email” “Account Suspension” […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post


Phishing Is So Very Fishy

A week doesn’t go by now that I don’t receive a fishy email. An email that appears to be from my email service or bank that carries an anxiety inducing message. Now that it’s tax time I even got an email that looked like it came from the IRS! These are all phishing scams. Merriam-Webster’s […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post


Protect You and Your Smartphone

When a cell phone was just a cell phone, loss or theft was an inconvenience. Because a smartphone is the gateway to your emails, contact information, and much, much more, loss or theft can be a serious security breach. 3 Tips to Protect You and Your Smartphone if it is lost or stolen: 1) Set […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post


CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!! But TO WHAT and HOW?

image

Everyone has their knickers in a twist about this new security threat and are shouting “CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS!!” But few of us will because it’s a major pain in the a$$. Right? Let me make it easy for you.

Be aware that 90% of passwords can be broken in 20 minutes or less because we choose public information. You think you can’t remember anything else. Sit tight. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Click Here to Read the Full Post


Windows XP is not Y2K…or is it?

Y2K

Remember all the dire hype with Y2K? Many held their breath and their technology tight to their chests. Midnight came and **poof** nothing. “Huh? What? That was it?” We forgot and moved on like that crush on Patrick Swazye after watching “Dirty Dancing.” (Well, some of us have moved on.)

Windows XP will lose Microsoft’s support on April 9th. That does not mean your computer will stop working if your operating system is Windows XP.

Click Here to Read the Full Post


Losing Yourself: Identity Theft

Do you have concerns about the security of your identity on the Internet? Well, I have news for you…the contents of your wallet is where you should begin to protect yourself. I recently received an e-mail that had great tips on what each of us should do to protect ourselves. Some of the tips are […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post


Spam – No Longer Confined To A Tin

I remember the day, many moons ago, when Mom tried to sneak Spam onto our plates for dinner. “Darlings, it’s just like meat loaf.” She never tried again. The spam you receive in your e-mail inbox is equally unappealing. Spam is another name for junk mail. In the same way that you get bulk junk […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post


A Warning About Virus Warnings

This week I received an e-mail from a friend warning about a virus that was likely to have infected my computer. The e-mail (which she was forwarding to everyone in her address book, as had the person who sent it to her and the person before that) instructed us to delete a file the supposed […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post


A Word on Passwords

Recently a friend from San Diego was visiting and needed to access my voicemail to hear an important message left for him. He couldn’t reach me to ask for my password, so he tried to guess it. He got it on the first try! I guess my birth year wasn’t such a difficult code to […]

Click Here to Read the Full Post