Homeland Security says stop using Internet Explorer
Security exploit found in Internet Explorer Over the weekend a vulnerability was found in Internet Explorer and is serious enough that the Department of Homeland Security has advised users of Internet Explorer versions 6-11 to stop using it until a security patch is developed. From the US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) website: “US-CERT is aware of active exploitation of a use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. This vulnerability affects IE versions 6 through 11 and could allow unauthorized remote code execution.” “US-CERT recommends that users and administrators review Microsoft Security Advisory 2963983 for mitigation actions and workarounds. Those who cannot follow Microsoft’s recommendations, such as Windows XP users, may consider employing an alternate browser.” Internet Explorer for XP users most likely will not be getting the security update. Microsoft officially stopped supporting Windows XP earlier this month which puts XP users at an even higher risk. If you are still using Windows XP it is highly recommended that you upgrade your operating system to at least Windows 7. Even then, until there is a patch that fixes this security bug, you should also install a different web browser. What to do now? While the bug can potentially affect users of IE 6-11, it is currently targeting IE 9-10 according to Fireeye, the security company the discovered the flaw. Also, the bug relies on Adobe Flash so Fireeye says disabling the Flash plugin within IE will prevent the exploit from functioning. If you need to use Ineternet Explorer, at least disable Flash. Security while you’re online is an extremely important thing to remember. That is another reason Google Chrome is...
Which Web Browser Do You Use?
There are many different web browser options out there today that can be used on Windows and Mac computers. Like anything in life they each have their pros and cons. All of them will let you browse the internet, watch some videos on Youtube and keep up with your friends on Facebook. How they do all of these things can vary from browser to browser however. So which browser do you use? Many people use the browser their computer came with. If you use a Windows computer, odds are you use Internet Explorer (IE). It’s hard not to. It comes pre-loaded as part of Windows and is set as the default browser. If you use a Mac, you most likely use Safari. Just like IE it comes pre-loaded as the default browser on all Apple computers. In case you didn’t know…Those aren’t your only options. According to the global stats at statcounter.com, Google Chrome was the most popular browser for the month of March in 2014 with 24.22% overall. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer takes the next top two spots with IE11 and IE8. Firefox comes in at the 4th and 5th position, while Apple’s Safari comes in at the 9th position. My browser of choice is Google Chrome. Sleek, fast, and easy to use. If you use any Google products like Gmail, Google Drive, Google+/Hangouts, or Google Voice, then this is the browser for you. Sign in to your Google account and you can sync your browsing over all of your computers and devices that are also logged into Google. Have windows open on your computer but need to...
App of the Month – LastPass
Do you know what the 3 most common passwords were in 2013? 123456 password 12345678 Why would anyone use a password that is so easily overcome by someone trying to hack into their account? Simple. We have too many passwords that we need to live in our online lives. Websites, programs, computers, phones…. There are so many times a day we need passwords sometimes it’s just easier to put in something anyone can remember. Raise your hand if you have a pad of paper somewhere with a bunch of websites and passwords all written down, scratched out and re-written because you couldn’t remember a password and had to reset it. Again. I started using LastPass years ago and have never looked back. I don’t use it on my phone or iPad, but it is a vital part of my daily life so I think it makes a great App of the Month. LastPass is a freeware password manager (there is a premium version too) that helps you keep track of all of your passwords. It will even keep your passwords ready for you on multiple computers if you use more than one. Once you’ve signed up for a LastPass account and installed the app, LastPass will ask you every time you log into a website if you would like it to remember your password. Now, most browsers will do this already, but if you use more than one browser, or computer, LastPass will keep all of your passwords unified across all of them. LastPass keeps your passwords in your LastPass Vault and can automatically fill in your information the next time...
App of the Month – SwiftKey
There are certain apps and programs that I use daily and can’t imagine living without, so I’ve decided to share some of my favorites. For the first of my “App of the Month” posts I picked the keyboard app for Android phones and tablets called SwiftKey. Not everyone knows it but you can change keyboards in Android if you don’t like the stock keyboard. In fact, you can customize almost every aspect of an Android phone to your liking. Having come from an iPhone (that I loved) this was a welcome change. I still use my iPad daily but really dislike the stock keyboard. Especially since I came across SwiftKey. What makes SwiftKey so great? SwiftKey has an amazing word-prediction system at its core. The more you use it, the more it learns the way you type. As you’re typing it constantly gives you 3 choices of what it thinks you are trying to type. If the word in the center is what you want simply hit the spacebar and it types it in for you. This is where it gets good. After the first word is in, it starts predicting what your next word might be. If you see the word you want in the three choices just tap it and move on. I’ve typed texts and emails where I’ve gone 10+ words without typing a key. It’s like it knows what I’m thinking. It’s almost creepy how it works. The app can even be set to analyze your sent Google email, Facebook posts, and sent tweets to determine commonly used words and phrases. SwiftKey’s predictive abilities are my...