data privacy

Google and Unacast Glean GPS Location Data from Your Cellphones Helping Governments Enforce Stay-at-Home Orders

Google announced in a blog post that it is tracking people’s movemnets using phone location data to help governments track stay-at-home orders. They are the only one. An public webpage launched by a Norwegian company is tracking and reporting the location of US citizens via their data collected from their own smartphones. Unacast, Inc. based in Norway is using GPS location data from people’s smartphones and displaying it on their Social Distancing Scoreboard. Now state governments are using it to track and enforce their stay-at-home measures. States are scored with a grading system, with an A to F rating, to judge the mobility of their residents. It can also be used to see where people are congregating.

Unacast silently collects data in the background of “free” games, apps, social media sites, weather apps, and others installed on smartphones. The collection and distribution of data is legal (though highly questionable) through seldom read and usually confusing user agreements. Privacy advocates consider this to be “surveillance” technology.” Unacast does not focus on world health as the focus of their day job. According to the company’s website they track people and sell aggregate date to retail, travel, tourism, marketing, and real estate clients. “Our clients use human mobility data to expand their understanding of customers beyond their doors.” states Unacast’s website, the company helps clients “identify areas of opportunity across marketing, real estate and operations.”

As of today, Unacast gave the entire United States a B minus or below with the exception of the District of Columbia.

State agencies like The Kansas Department of Health and Environment are using Unacast’s a Social Distancing Scoreboard to monitoring how citizens are complying with the stay-at-home orders. This prompted the Kansas Justice Institute to inquire about whether there was a contract in place to monitor citizens.

Unacast’s website states, “we’ve been contacted by government officials and health policy experts at the local, state, and federal levels expressing great enthusiasm for our aggregated analysis”

Kansas has a D rating according to Unacast.

RELATED READS

• How to Disable Location Data on Your iPhone
• How to Disable Location Data on Your Android Device
• Google Apps That Track Your Location
• Google Maps Location History – View Your Location History in Google Maps and Shut Off Tracking
• How to Shut Off Google Location Tracking

And some questions about if government agencies or states have access to more precise or frequently updated data are mounting. According to Lawrence Journal-World ,“The publicly available data on Unacast’s website currently has a four-day lag time, the company noted on its website, while Norman said the data he had access to updated every other day. The post refers to Kansas Health Secretary Dr. Lee Norman.

You Are Being Surveilled

You are being surveilled courtesy of your own smartphone. Although the data is supposedly, anonymized and aggregated this is a real concern for data privacy advocates. Firms like Unacast can be sketchy because they’re collecting locations without consent from people. Basically, your cell phone location data is being used to track your movements to monitor whether you are complying with social distancing requirements under the guise of fighting the spread of COVID-19 — requirements that people nationwide are still getting accustomed to.

Locaiton tracking presents privacy issues because the people being surveilled rarely realize that their location and history were being used by companies like Unacast for tracking and reporting.

Google Is Also Tracking and Reporting Your Location

Not to be outdone Google has also created “mobility reports” avaialble for download to assess the movements of citizens. Google aggregates location data from a number of web properties and apps they own – including the obvious Google Maps, but also from other apps like YouTube, Chrome web browser, the Play Store, Google Wallet, Photos that use location data to tag places, and Gmail.
“For these reports, we use differential privacy, which adds artificial noise to our datasets enabling high quality results without identifying any individual person,” Google writes. “The insights are created with aggregated, anonymized sets of data from users who have turned on the Location History setting, which is off by default.”

The reports consist of per country, or per state, downloads (with 131 countries covered initially), further broken down into regions/counties — with Google offering an analysis of how community mobility has changed vs a baseline average before COVID-19 arrived to change everything.

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/

Online Schools May Inadvertently Put Your Child’s Data and Privacy at Risk – Here’s How to How to Keep Your Child Safe Online

How to keep your child safe in online schools. Many children are now suddenly involved in online classroom settings that are new to students, parents, and educators. Although it is fabulous school districts have been catapulted into embracing online technologies, it has been a mad scramble to take classrooms and assignments online in a secure manner. Data privacy is at risk. Parents may find it challenging to keep up with the flurry of login credentials to video conferencing websites and online leaning platforms. Notifications and emails may be coming from multiple sources, making it confusing to keep track of who is sending what and who has received it. Emails with attachments and links to other websites can be potentially dangerous as they are prime targets for hackers.

In July 2019, three Louisiana public schools were successfully shut down by a ransomware attack. The cyber attack infected ten percent of Louisiana’s 5,000 IT servers and over 1,500 computers. Also in July 2019, Rockville Centre School District was paralyzed by a Ryuk ransomware cyber attack. The district’s insurance carrier paid a ransom of $88k USD to recover the network. In October 2019, a ransomware shut down Las Cruces Public Schools in New Mexico. The district mitigated the attack by reformatting 30,000 devices and refused to pay the ransom.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Online Schools – How to Keep Your Child Safe

Use a Secure WiFi Network

If you’re working in a place where there are multiple WiFi networks to choose from and yours won’t work for some reason – it’s too slow for example, don’t just log in to any network that your phone or compute detects. Hackers can set up WiFi networks that appear to allow you to access the internet while they record what you look at online, your passwords, data, emails, and messages. This puts your online accounts and money at risk. For example, if you’re on a hacker’s network and log into your bank, the hacker can steal that password from your web browser.

Even if a hacker can get a low-level password for a social media account, they can likely use it to hack into a more valuable account like a credit card or bank account. People often use the same password across multiple online accounts. So, if a hacker gets your email address and one password, they may be able to use that information to break into a lot of your other online accounts too.

Always use secure WiFi that is protected with a password of its own and unique passwords. Try saving them in a password manager for extra security.

Be on the Look Out for Phishing Emails

My daughter started online classes today. Emails from teachers are flying as teachers and students scramble to adapt to a new learning environment. Some emails from the new learning platform they are using for online classes. Some emails are coming from the platform they had been using all along to track grades and assignments. Still other emails are coming from school district email accounts. Some emails, like those from the strict, have Word docs attached. Others email have links in the body of the email prompting me to read a message on the learning platform. In the last 24 hours I have received over 15 new emails.

ALL of these email notifications from online schools are ripe for hackers to launch phishing email and malware campaigns targeting parents, teachers, and kids. With emails originating from three different domains (the learning platform, the school district, and the older progress tracker) it can be east to miss a spoofed email address. A hacker can buy a domain name that is closely name to your school district website and send emails containing links to malicious website and weaponized email attachments.

Do you think your school district is too small for a hacker to mess with it? In 2019, the number if cyber attacks on schools tripled and included kindergarten through 12th grade schools , Universities, and local governments. Primary public school districts across the U.S. suffered a total over 500 cyberattacks in 2019. Hackers only need one person with a privileged network account open a weaponized email to get a malware infection started. These cyber attacks can disable a school IT system for weeks (Don’t get any ideas kiddos!!!)

Ask that your school district stop sending emails with attachments (see the part about macros below) and upload all communications to one channel. They should use the platform to distribute Word docs, spreadsheets, pdf files, and other classroom materials as downloads. That way parents and students receive notifications from one source and to to the learning platform for all attachments avoiding harmful links in emails and potentially damaging email attachments.

Ask Your Child’s Teacher to Use a PIN for all Online School Meetings

Recently an online Norwegian class of young school students was interrupted by a nude man who had guessed the URL to the children’s live class. The teacher was using Zoom, a popular video conferencing platform but had not set a PIN code to control who attended. The perv was talking to and exposing himself to the children over the live video class before some parents saw what was happening. It is believed that the man had cycled through random meeting ID links until he got one that worked and joined the video call. This is not the first time this has happened.

Conference call apps like WebEx, Zoom, Uber Conference and others, use a standard link structure for calls that can be joined from a computer web browser. The teacher or meeting organizer can opt to require a passcode to join the call. Higher quality platforms may assign a unique URL to each attendee to add more protection and track attendance. If the meeting organizer has a subscription to the online video call service, the link may always be the same to make it easier for people to remember. That also makes it easier for hackers to remember too! With so many people working and attending school at home now, hackers have a lot better luck just randomly guessing at links that many connect them to calls.

The Norwegian class was not protected with a passcode although it could have been. Ask your child’s teacher to require a PIN code to join any online class or video call.

Disable Macros on Microsoft Files

Enabling macros is dangerous. All Microsoft Office documents including MS Word and Excel files commonly used by students, can contain built-in macros that give them certain functionality. Macros are small chunks of computer code that can handle repetitive tasks. Although they do have legitimate uses, hackers frequently use macros to infect your computer with malware. All of the recent COVID-19 phishing emails and malware attacks use macro enabled MS Word documents sent via email to infect the victim’s computer.

Hackers can embed macros inside documents and spreadsheets that automatically run as soon as you open a file. They spread malwares such as spyware, viruses, and key loggers to infected computers. Although up to date versions of Microsoft Office contain security features that may protect your computer from macros, they are still potentially very dangerous. Use a reputable antivirus app to protect your computer and be sure to disable macros.

Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

VPN stands for virtual private network. A VPN is software or app that you can download to all of your computers, phones, and even your WiFi enabled television to keep the information sent from these devices private. When devices are sharing an internet connection, like in a home for example, it is easy for anyone to see the contents of messages, what website you visited, and files sent. Although parents may not want their children to hide what they are doing online, many parents are working from home and need to keep their employer’s information private. A VPN subscription costs only a few dollars per month and can be shared with all devices in the home. We reviewed several VPNs. I use IPVanish VPN and one of your other authors uses PIA VPN for watching Netflix, but the VPNs listed below are all good quality.

What to Do if You Think Your Childs Information May Already Be at Risk

If you think that you received a phishing email or have somehow compromised your computer, then download an antivirus app right away. This will help start the process of cleaning up your phone or computer. Be wary of free antivirus apps or ones that you download from review websites as they can be malware themselves.

After you have cleaned up your computer and phone, and reconnected to the internet using secure WiFi, change ALL of your usernames and passwords. Don’t reuse passwords across multiple online accounts. Download a password manager that will generate hard to guess passwords that are unique for each online account.

How to Keep Online Schools Safe

• Do not set meetings or classrooms public
• Require a passcode or PIN to join any call
• Do not share Zoom conference links on public social media
• Restrict screen-sharing options so only the host can share thier screen during a video call
• Ensure users keep their conferencing apps up to date

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/

538M Weibo Hacked User Data for Sale on the Dark Web – Includes 172 M Phone Numbers

Weibo usernames and location are for sale on the dark web. According to a post by Jinse.com the hacker selling the data hacked into Weibo in mid-2019 and stole the user database of 538 million users. The cache of data includes real names, Weibo usernames, gender, and geographic location. Hacked data also includes account information also includes Weibo user ID, number of posts, number of followers. For 172 million of those users phone numbers are also exposed. No passwords are for sale. It’s all for sale for a bargain price of ¥1,799 ($250).

Weibo posted a notice about the data, dismissing the incident as voluminous queries against its API. Weibo assures users that their accounts are safe because passwords were not hacked. Weibo users have the ability to query the usernames of friends and phone numbers in their phone’s address book. The company claims this interface was used in a brute force attack to steal the user data. However, the corporate statement does not logically explain how the hacker obtained other details like gender and location data that is not part of API query results.
“Users’ mobile phone numbers were leaked through forced matching with an address book API in 2019. The rest of the public information was scraped on the web.”
Weibo later removed the notice.

Weibo Data Breach User Info for Sale on the Dark Web

What is Weibo?

Sina Weibo, or simply Weibo, is a social media channel with over 600 million users and more than half of the microblogging market. Weibo is the Chinese word for “microblogging” which causes confusion with other Chinese microblogging services with similar names like Tencent Weibo, Sohu Weibo, and NetEase Weibo.

Sina Weibo is second only to WeChat in China in terms of number of users. It can be used in English, but users must have a verified Chinese phone number to get an account.

Sina Weibo, now known as Weibo, initially used the domain name t.sina.com.cn when the app launched but change to weibo.com in 2011. The social media channel is sort of a cross between Facebook and twitter, which are censored content in Mainland China. Apps are available for iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, as well as Weibo Desktop.

Data Privacy is a Concern

Even though account passwords are not part of this data breach, it is still a concern. People often use the same password across multiple online accounts. If the hacker, or whoever buys the stolen data, matches the user phone number to a password from another data breach, it is possible to hack into any account using the same login credentials. For example, if you use the same password for Weibo that you do for your email, the hacker can use that to reset passwords for more valuable accounts like payment cards, eWallets, and bank accounts.

In January the hacked 30 million payment cards were posted for sale on the dark web by Jokers Stash.

How to Create a Strong Password

• Read our Guide on the Most Common Hacked Passwords to know what to avoid
• Create a Strong Password that is hard to guess. Try using a sentence
• Create a unique password for each online account
• Use a Password Manager to help you create original passwords that are hard to crack
• A Password Vault can remember them for you

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/

Porn Scam Emails Use Passwords to Attempt to Coerce Victims into Paying are Making the Rounds Online

The pair of porn scam emails are circulating, but this time one is threatening a rather unique malware infection. The firstborn scam email is a common modus operandi where the hacker threatens to release the video of you watching porn and send it to all of your contacts Amazon ransom is paid. In the second porn scam email hackers use similar content as the first version, but this time the hacker threatens to infect you and your family with the coronavirus or COVID-19. Interesting.

Both porn scam emails use a password that the victim had previously used in a legitimate online account to make the threat scarier and more credible.

The rogue emails try to blackmail victims, or sextort, them out of their hard-earned cash.

In both porn scam emails hackers claim to have hacked into the victim’s computer webcam and obtained videos of them watching porn. They then demand ransom payable in Bitcoin.
To make themselves sound more credible, the hackers include a real password that the victim has used previously. For the porn scam emails reported to Krebs on Security, the victim reports that the password is real and that is one they’ve used online.

However, the password used as blackmail, in all cases, is about ten years old. That’s why it’s important not to use the same password across multiple online accounts and to change passwords often. If you can’t remember a unique password for each online account and use a password vault to help you manage them.

It’s common for hackers to use information from social engineering to make their scam emails seem more legitimate. It’s likely the hackers sniffed the passwords from nonsecure WiFi or bought them on the dark web from a previous data breach.

Porn Scam 1- Sextortion

The first porn scam attempts to blackmail the victim with a webcam video. If a ransom is not paid, the hacker threatens to send a webcam video of the target watching porn to their contacts including relatives, and coworkers.

To make the email more credible and the threats more credible, the hacker includes a password used by the victim on another website.

The porn scam email states:

“Well, I actually placed a malware on the porn website and guess what, you visited this web site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching the video, your web browser acted as a RDP (Remote Desktop) and a keylogger which provided me access to your display screen and webcam. Right after that, my software gathered all your contacts from your Messenger, Facebook account, and email account.

You don’t know me and you’re thinking why you received this e mail, right?

Well, I actually placed a malware on the porn website and guess what, you visited this web site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching the video, your web browser acted as a RDP (Remote Desktop) and a keylogger which provided me access to your display screen and webcam. Right after that, my software gathered all your contacts from your Messenger, Facebook account, and email account.

What exactly did I do?
I made a split-screen video. First part recorded the video you were viewing (you’ve got a fine taste haha), and next part recorded your webcam (Yep! It’s you doing nasty things!).

The hacker demands a ransom of $1400 USD payable in Bitcoin to keep the videos private. The ransom must be paid within 24 hours.

Porn Scam 2 COVID-19 Themed

As many are working from home online now and have become savvier about dodgy cyberattacks, hackers must retool their scam emails to keep bringing into cash money. In this revision, the hacker threatens not to infect your computer with malware, but to infect you and your family if the ransom is not paid.

This porn scam was first reported by cyber security researchers at Sophos. The content of the porn scam email is similar to the first scam except that the threat is not to release videos of you watching porn, it’s to infect you with the Coronavirus. The hackers again cite a password the target had actually used for an online account. To make the email scam more intimidating, the hackers say they have “every dirty little secret about your life.”

“Tο sταrt with, I κηοw all of yοur passwords. I αm awαre of your whereαbοuτs, what yοu eaτ, wιth whοm you tαlk, every liττle τhing yοu do in α day,” the email continues.
Whoever then rather than threatening to release webcam videos the target watching pornography, the hackers threaten to infect the reader and their family with a Coronavirus.

“Ι wιll iηfect eνery member οf your family with τhe CοronαVιrus. No matter how smart yοu αre, belieνe me, ιf Ι waητ to αffect, Ι caη,” the note concludes. “Ι will also gο αheαd aηd reνeαl yοur secreτs. Ι will comρletely ruiη yοur lιfe.”

The full text of the porn scam can be seen on the Sophos post and on the image below.

Hackers demand that a ransom of $4000 in Bitcoin be paid within 24 hours.

The hackers use tactics to bypass malware and email filters, you should still use antivirus protection software to protect your computer and filter out potentially harmful emails.

Other Coronavirus themed phishing emails have tried to trick the recipient into clicking on links, downloading attachments, or looking at a malicious version of the Coronavirus map. If the reader opened any of the email attachments, they launched a malware attack that compromised their computer. This type of malware attack may be filtered out by using a reputable antivirus app on your phone and computer.

What is a Porn Scam?

A porn scam is when a scammer demands money is known as sextortion. This occurs when a scammer threatens to make sensitive information about you public. Often they threaten to send it to your friends, family, and all of your email contacts. Sextortion hackers are looking for a ransom to be paid in exchange for withholding the hurtful information which is often sexual in nature.

How Avoid to Porn Scams

According to the National Crime Agency, thousands of people fall victim to porn scams each year. Here are some things you can do to avoid becoming a victim of a porn scam:

• Don’t watch porn. This one’s a little obvious. If you don’t watch porn and the hackers have nothing on you and you’ll know their threat is just a stone-cold lie
• Never send sensitive images, photos, or videos to anyone no matter how much you trust them. Hackers can intercept internet messages and emails. It’s especially easy when you’re using nonsecure Wi-Fi like that found in a coffee shop or a hotel
• Always use a virtual private network or VPN to protect all the information sent from your computer or phone A VPN encrypts your messages, emails, and images to keep them private
• Never open email attachments from people you don’t know
• Verify that the sender of any email is who they say they are. If you have any doubt, call the person before opening the email or any attachments or clicking links
• Be wary of emails that try to rush you or scare you into taking action
• Turn off and cover web cameras when you are not using them

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/

Work from Home Jobs Have Cyber Security Risks – Be Careful What You Download as You Start Working Remotely

Work from home jobs are no longer viewed as a luxury by employers. Work from home jobs have suddenly become a necessity or even mandated by the government due to the coronavirus outbreak spreading across the globe. You may have found yourself in a work at home situation with little time to set your workspace up. One of the worst things you could do right now is to rush to download sketchy apps to remotely connect from home with your job and get back on the payroll. Any software or app, especially those that are free to use, can make your phone slow or leave your computer vulnerable to hackers.

If your phone or laptop gets hacked, you may not be able to work at all. To make matters worse, you could put your employer’s entire IT network, email service, and file sharing services at risk for phishing emails or a malware attack. If you’re not working at all because your copmany is shuttered, read our post on Quick to Learn Online Jobs So You Can Work from Home

If you have not been given any guidelines on what apps and hardware, you’ll need for your home office turned work from home job there are several basic apps you’ll need for communication and security. Afterall, you don’t want your computer getting hacked or your employer’s data being exposed to the public. You may also find yourself submitting your timesheet online from home rather than from an office computer. Exposing any of your personal data can leave you open to various forms of tax fraud including W-9 fraud and other income tax scams.

Useful apps for work from home jobs include secure messaging apps, video conferencing, file sharing sites, antivirus protection, a virtual private network (VPN) to log in to your network. Although many people manage to work entirely from their phone, a decent laptop is often faster and can support most communications and file-sharing apps.

Here are some tips to keep you safe, your computer, and boss happy.

Get a Reliable Communication App

Get a reliable communication app. Actually, get two. You probably already have one video conferencing like Facetime or can video call using your cellular provider’s phone app. But to work with a team you may need something where you can share links, files, and screenshare.

I use Signal for SMS texts. Signal encrypts messages, but it only works if the other person is using Signal as well Other secure messaging apps I use include WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat. Although I do use WhatsApp for work video calls, it is not convenient for team calls.

For group conferences I prefer uberconference. A lot of people prefer Zoom for video conferences, but the company has already stated they are dealing with being overloaded with so many more people at work from home jobs now.

Cisco is offering WebEx for free for new users and teams of up to 100.

No matter what video conference app you use, secure your conference app by enabling two-factor authentication and a unique PIN for each call. Don’t allow the participants to start the meeting without the host.

Stay Away from Non-Secure WiFi

Public WiFi, like that found at coffee shops, is not secure to use, ever. Anyone using the same WiFi network, can intercept the information your phone or computer is sending. Every time you read or send emails, messages, or log into social media, your device is sending your username and password, even if you don’t enter it each time you send a message.

If you must use public WiFi, then use a VPN, every time.

Upgrade Your Hardware

The average person can get away with a low-cost laptop at home because they really only use it for surfing the web or writing an occasional MS Word Document. Both of those tasks are light and therefore you don’t really need a beefy laptop.

However, if you are on day one of working at home, then you may quickly find that you need a more robust laptop. Video conferencing can suck up a lot of RAM making your computer or your phone slow. On top of that you may keep multiple tabs open in a web browser, read email, use MS Excel, all while using the security apps discussed below which tax system resources more.

If you have an older laptop that is still using Windows 7 Operating system it is definitely time to upgrade. Microsoft, no longer supports Windows 7. That means there are no more security bug fixes which leaves your messages and personal information as well as that of your employers vulnerable to hackers. Upgrade to a laptop that protects your data with facial recognistion or fingerprint scans.

Pay for a Reputable VPN App

A VPN, or virtual private network, is software that can be used on your phone or computer. A VPN encrypts all of the information your device is sending whenever the VPN is turned on. That means all of your messages, emails, photos, and passwords are encrypted so they cannot be read by hackers or other prying eyes.

VPNS protect others from seeing your messages, emails, photos, and the websites you’ve been looking at by encrypting data sent from the device. Consumers use a VPN to connect to the internet securely. This is especially useful when you want to shop online or are anytime you are using a public WiFi network like those found in coffee shops.

Corporate VPNs, like Perimeter 81, are more robust and protect your computer, the corporate IT servers, cloud computing resources and office resources. From hackers.

If your IT department has not recommended which VPN to use (or you don’t even have an IT department) then read our review of NordVPN and our comparison of NordVPN versus IPVanish VPN.

The VPNs I recommended cost money, but they are inexpensive. For about five USD per month, depending on which one you select and how long you subscribe for. I pay for IPVanish quarterly.

NordVPN has more servers to connect than IPVanish. Since VPNs can cause a noticeable slowdown, a large selection of servers is an advantage as you can choose the server nearest to you and change any time if it’s not working out. This is a feature that can really help increase connection speed which is a top reason why people choose NOT to protect themselves a VPN. I use IPVanish as it was recommended by afraid and it has worked well for me even when I traveled to Taiwan.

I’ve also used TunnelBear VPN. This app has a free version that is easy and even sort of fun to use. Another free VPN is VPNhub, but I haven’t tried it myself.

Free Isn’t Always Better

Free VPNs have data limits though and sometimes security risks. Free VPNs do not let you choose what server to connect to.

Paying for VPN subscription can ensure your privacy and remove data caps. One perk, VPNs can be used to circumvent government censorship or for watching blocked movies, sports and shows online. Read our post about watching blocked content with a VPN.

8 Easy to Use Security Apps to Protect a Phone Right Now

Use a Spell Checker

Like most work from home jobs, you may find that you are writing more and talking less. Although MS Word and Google docs have spell checkers, Grammarly can really improve your writing with tips for better sentence structure. I use Grammarly to help write blog posts and my cyber security guides.

Download and Use an Antivirus App

Scammers are already using the novel Coronavirus to prey upon people looking for health information. Several email phishing scams have been spotted posing as legitimate World Health Organization updates or notices from governments. These emails offer helpful information about the Coronavirus and even data on number of infected people or locations. But the phishing emails are weaponized with malware. The content of the email tries to trick the reader into opening an email attachment which launches a malware download and infects the computer.

A good antivirus app can protect your computer form phishing emails, malicious attachments, and malware like those sent by hackers. An app like McAffee has up to date malware information that means your antivirus app can defend against the most recent malware attacks and phishing emails to protect your money and data.

Paid antivirus apps are usually better than free apps. Czech based Avast, a developer of an antivirus app, was caught collecting and selling the personal data of people using its products to its subsidiary Jumpshot, Inc which is now out of business. Try McAfee antivirus app

Beware of Phone Scams

If you are contacted by voice call, email, or messaging app by someone claiming to be from an IT department, don’t believe it. Verify that the person is a legitimate representative of your company before cooperating with anything. Do not give them access to your computer. Do open emails from someone you don’t know. Do not click on links in emails or open email attachments. The fake IT department is a common scam.

If you are contacted by telephone, and want to call back to verify the request, don’t use the phone number given to you by the caller .Look it up yourself. You may have to be transferred a few times but that the only way you’ll know the caller is legitimate.

Backup Your Data

Backup your data to a USB flash drive or removable hard drive. That way if your computer does get hacked, or infected with malware, you will be able to get back online easily.

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/

How Do You Know If a VPN is Working When Working from Home? How to Find Your IP Address and Make Sure Your VPN Is Working Correctly

If want to do remote work or find that you cannot make it into the office for whatever reason, using a virtual private network, or VPN, is something you’re going to want to use to keep your computers and your employers’ information secure. If you are working for a large corporation, they probably may have already supplied a VPN app that employees are required to use to connect to corporate emails and files. Small and medium businesses can any number of VPN apps to connect to their workplace securely. We reviewed a few VPNs we like in this blog post.

After you download and install any VPN, you just push a button to turn it on. You may notice that your web browsing is a little bit slower. But if you want to ensure that your VPN is working, you will have to check your external IP address before and after you enable to VPN. I’ll show you a few ways to do that and I’ll be using IPVanish to show you.

If you dont have a VPN installed and need step-by-step instructions, read our NordVPN review. Then I compare IPVanish versus NordVPN.

How Can I Find My WiFi IP Address?

An IP is short for Internet Protocol. It is used to identify computers, mobile devices, websites, and hardware like routers connected via the Internet. Each device connected to the Internet has an IP address which is like a street address for all internet connected devices.An IP address is a numeric identifier used to identify computers and other internet connected devices. Each Internet services provider (ISP) has a range or blocks of IP addresses assigned to it. That way other ISPs, like Time Warner, can route internet traffic and streaming TV, to other ISPS, like Verizon based on the block of IP addresses.

Your phone and computer have an internal IP addresses and external IP address.

An internal IP address is assigned to your device by your home, office, or other internet router. It is what your router uses to divvy up and send all the web traffic it receives to the correct device. For example, your router needs to device if your phone requested to view a certain web page and serve it to you. While your kids requested to watch a Hulu show and serve that content to their device.

An external IP address is how devices outside of your internet network – servers, internet connected phones, laptops – find your device on the internet. It is also how you navigate to websites.

Your external IP address at home is probably your router’s IP address. it’s useful to know the IP address external servers are seeing for your computer. This will also help you know if your VPN is working.

Your router receives and sends internet traffic for all the devices that are internally connected to it. The router that your device is connected to, sends all internet traffic – emails, messages, chats, web pages – to each device using the internal IP addresses it has assigned to each connected device. Your device’s internal IP address is set by the router it’s connected to. If you change locations – for example you work from another office for a day – then your IP address changes too.

How Do I Know if My VPN is Working?

When you use a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to the internet you change your external IP address. But you don’t have to change locations. That’s why you can use a VPN to watch blocked content like sporting events that are blocked in your area. If you are working from home or elsewhere you’ll want to find Your IP address and make sure your VPN Is working correctly

If set up as a firewall, your router can also block devices from accessing malicious websites or information that you have chosen to block – like content that is inappropriate for children.
Note: I used IPVanish VPN, the VPN subscription service I bought to use when I traveled to Taiwan to test this.

How Do I Locate My IP Address?

Use the command line on Windows system command prompt

1. Click the Windows Magnifying Glass
2. Launch the Windows command prompt by typing cmd in the run window.
3. Type ipconfig
4. Hit return

This will show you the details of all network interfaces configured on your Windows system.

This will give you your internal (local) IP address only. That means it’s how the other computers on your home or office network see your phone or laptop.

Use Curl in a Command Window

NOTE: This is how I checked my IP Address. I used a Windows laptop and IPVanish to compare my external IP address before and after connecting.

1. Click the Windows Magnifying Glass
2. Type cmd
3. Type curl ifconfig.me
4. Hit return

You’ll see you get a very plain looking screen with just your external IP address. This will agree with the method I used (Curl) and what your VPN service reports if your VON is working.

Use AWS

You can also hit Amazon Web Services (AWS) using HTTP.
1. Open a web browser
2. Go to checkip.amazonaws.com
3. Read your external IP address

Google It

1. Open a web browser
2. Type in IP address
3. Read your external IP address

Get Your IP Address from Your VPN

If you are using a VPN to work remotely, then your VPN app should show you what IP address your traffic is being routed through and what city that server is in.

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/

Remote Work – Six Ways to Keep Your Data Safe When Working Remotely to Secure All of Your Information

In the past working from home or other remote work location was often considered by employers to be a luxury. Sometimes, in the case of a family emergency or power outage or natural disaster you could find yourself working from home unexpectedly albeit temporarily. However, there are times where you may have to be prepared to work remotely for an extended period – like in the aftermath of a natural disaster or possibly now with the COVID-19 outbreak. Workers may find themselves working remotely because COVID-19 has caused their workplace to close. It’s also possible that you could be quarantined to your local area and unable to get to work, even if it is open. Worse yet, you could become ill. But accessing work emails, files, and accessing sensitive corporate information exposes private corporate data and electronic devices to an increased risk of a data breach.

So how can you protect your phone, laptop, computers, and all the information these devices access to get the job done during remote work?

If you can’t go into your office for whatever reason, one of the best ways to protect your private work information is to connect from your home internet connection using a secured router. The important part is that it is indeed secured.

Here’s how to keep your data safe when working remotely.

Ensure All Internet Connections Are Secure

To secure your home router for remote work, access your router settings and change the username and password. Many people never bother to reset the login credentials set by the manufacturer each time they buy a new router. Internet routers are shipped from the manufacturers with stock usernames (like admin) and passwords. Those login credentials can be found online by Googling the router manufacturer and model name. That’s because they all have the same setup.

So, you need to set and remember a unique password for your router. If you can, create a new username too. This will help keep hackers out. Anyone who gains access to your router can read all of the data sent to and from your home network. They just have to be in range and not even in your house.

You can also use your home WiFi as long as it is properly secured with a strong username and password and up-to-date hardware.

Most newer routers come with two frequencies (networks) plus possibly a guest network. All frequencies should also have their own unique passwords or be disabled. Protect all of your WiFi connections with strong, hard to guess passwords. Never reuse passwords used for your email account or other apps.

Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Your employer may require that you connect to email and all corporate resources using a VPN. If you need a change of scenery and want to get out for a little while and work at a coffee shop or other public space, you’re definitely going to need a VPN to protect your laptop, phone, and online accounts from hackers.

A virtual private network, referred to as a VPN, is an app that you can install on your phone, laptop, or computer. A VPN encrypts data, messages, emails, images, and everything else sent from your device over the internet. If you’re working at a coffee shop and using WiFi connection, then anyone else using the coffee shop’s WiFi can read all of the information sent from your phone or laptop. If you use a VPN your information is protected.

We reviewed some free and paid VPN apps. Free VPN apps usually have data limits and cannot handle streaming media. Paid VPNs like Norton or IPVanish VPN are good options.

If your company has a lot of devices or contractors, Perimeter 81 is a more robust solution.

Use Unique Passwords – Always

Use unique passwords for all of your online accounts and apps. People commonly use the same password across multiple accounts. If you work somewhere using a non-secure WiFi connection, like that found in a hotel, retail store, or coffee shop you can get hacked pretty easily. If you use the same password for your Instagram account as you do for your bank account, hackers can use that password to break into everything and steal money.

READ: How to Create a Secure Password

When you log in to read an email or post on social media, your username and password is transmitted automatically whether you enter it or not. Using cheap software and hardware found for sale online for under fifty bucks, can easily steal information sent across WiFi networks that are not protected by a strong password. That means if you’re using the same password for your Instagram as you for other online accounts, then a hacker can use that password to hack into more valuable accounts like your banking app.

If you read your email using unsecured WiFi, a hacker will be able to access your email and use it to send password reset requests for any other account that also uses that email address.

Use a Password Vault for Remote Work Security

Stop writing your passwords on sticky notes. Use a password vault to create and store unique and hard-to-guess passwords for every single online account and app you use. A password vault, also called a password keeper, is an app that you install on your phone or laptop. It creates a strong and random password for each online account and keeps all login credentials in one place.

A password vault can be synced across all your devices and help make your accounts more secure. It’s convenient too. No more remembering all those passwords.

Shopping online will be more secure too.

Use Facial Recognition

If you’re going to work remotely from public spaces, you should consider upgrading to a new laptop or newer phone that uses biometric authentication. Now that you protected your apps and online accounts strong login credentials, you need to protect the device that all your work information is stored on too.

Anyone who finds your misplaced laptop or phone has access to all of your private photos, emails, and messages. Let’s just say you have a good table at a busy Starbucks, and you don’t want to unplug from the power outlet to use the lav. So, you leave your laptop at the table (NOTE – you should NEVER do this) unless your good friend is guarding your stuff to step away. If your laptop is not protected with facial recognition or fingerprint scans, anyone can quickly access your device – upgrade to a more secure laptop.

Use Malware Protection

Get malware protection before you need it. If you and a lot of people from your office are working remotely because of COVID-19, or any other reason, then there’s an increased chance that malware being introduced into your corporate network. When people use their own computers and phones for work uses, there is no guarantee those devices or the apps on them are patched and secure.

Phishing emails are often sent using information stolen from social media accounts. A recent increase in Emotet malware has cost some companies up to $1M to remediate the damage. There are three different types of Coronavirus themed phishing email campaigns disguised as public health messages. These supposedly helpful emails download malware when the email attachments are opened.

Quality antivirus software and malware protection can help stop phishing emails from infecting your laptop. Malware apps can help you clean up your device and regain control if it becomes infected. But the best plan is to prevent and malware downloads and block suspicious emails.

Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers

www.metrony.com/