Cyber Security…much ado about nothing?

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It depends if you like to gamble or not.

It seems that not a week goes by when we are not reading about some kind of cyber security breach at a big-name retailer or corporate giant.  Sometimes they can be attacks by a rogue government, or even by a teenager in the Ukraine.

 

But what about me?  Am I safe?  Surely these problems won’t ever affect me, will they?

 

Well, that depends on a lot of things.  Cyber security requires that we adhere to same basic rules:

  1. limit physical access to our device(s)
  2. have strong passwords in place to access our information
  3. keep devices and operating system software up to date
  4. use a good security program
  5. have a plan if things go bad

 

Allow me to elaborate a little on each of the rules.

Rule 1 – Limiting physical access.  This may seem really basic, but its importance cannot be stressed too much.  Lock your doors, keep your phone in your purse or pocket and don’t let other people use your stuff.

Rule 2 – Strong passwords are always a must.  Here’s some things to help you make them.  Use special characters to replace letters; use a $ instead of an S, how about a 3 instead of an E, or maybe a ! instead of a 1.  Those can definitely help make the password stronger.  A phrase “sandwiched” between some numbers, like 19BornToRun75! As a Springsteen fan you would easily remember that this album came out in 1975 and adding the ! at the end makes it stronger.

Rule 3 – If the hardware or software manufacturer issues you an update, you need to install it.  We all need to be sure we have a proper backup before installing the update (also referred to as a patch) in case something goes wrong.  Microsoft and Adobe routinely release updates, but not so for Apple.  We sigh when we see the pop-up about even more Microsoft updates, but they are all still important.  And when Apple releases a security update, it’s usually pretty serious so do it right away.

Rule 4 – Have a good security program installed on your computer.  And yes Virginia, Macs so get infected.  And don’t forget about backup.  The best plan is 3-pronged; the original data on your computer, a local backup device like a USB external drive or even a flash drive, and also a cloud copy using a service like Carbonite or CrashPlan.

Rule 5 – What if my device is compromised, now what?  First, we need to assess what it really means.  Most of our devices are not that important to be attacked.  Nor is the data on them…at least not to anyone but ourselves.  The best plan is prevention.  That and have a someone to call for help, whether that’s your neighborhood computer folks, banker, attorney or kid brother.  Don’t panic, just ask for help.

 

For business, cyber security has an enormous and scary downside if the data gets compromised.  They even sell insurance now in case your data gets stolen.  But for consumers, it’s really about identity theft.  Long gone are the days when our contact list was stolen and emails about Viagra, Low-Interest Mortgages and Weight-Loss were sent out.  Embarrassing to be sure, but pretty harmless in the end.

 

Now the bad guys are more surgical.  They are hijacking your email and looking for conversations between you and your brokerage house; searching for terms like “wire transfer” and other things that will allow them to see a pattern and try to have money re-routed to their account instead of yours.  We witnessed it enough because the protocols of the bank or broker are not followed precisely, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place, right?

 

Right.

 

And identity theft…this can be the worst.  Accounts opened in your name or tax returns filed on your behalf are obvious signs your identity has been stolen.  You have resources to help you at the Federal Trade Commission – www.identitytheft.gov.  Go there to report an event if it ever happens to you.

 

Keep your devices near you.  Have strong passwords.  Install software updates.  Use a security program.  Know what to do if something does go wrong.

Treat your email like it’s 1960

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It really makes sense…you’ll see what I mean in a minute.

 

Many people we come across often have 1,000s or even 10,000s of emails in their INBOX.  That’s a ton of email, don’t you think?  Many users just look at the number and say, “wow, I have a lot of email”, when the number the see only represents the number of emails that are UNREAD.  The total number is often far greater.  How did this happen and what can we do to manage our email better?

 

Pretend like you’re a desk worker from 1960, that’s what you can do.  It works, I swear!

 

Look into your minds’ eye and imagine what your desk would look like.  A large steel desk, probably gray, with a chair also made of steel and covered in green vinyl on the seat and the back.  Now look at the top of the desk.  A blotter covers most of the area, but then there’s a pencil cup, a stapler, a tape dispenser, a bowl with paperclips in it and maybe even a plaque with your name on it.  Perhaps a photo of your family in a nice frame.  Getting the picture?

 

Many of the desks for a typical worker had an INBOX on the left and an OUTBOX on the right.  Supervisors and other co-workers would put things in your INBOX for you to complete.  You would work on them and shift them to the OUTBOX for your supervisor or other co-workers to take the next time they came around to your desk.  Old-school to be sure, but very efficient and effective.  You could easily see your workload at a glance.  A full INBOX meant you had lots to do and a full OUTBOX meant you got a lot accomplished.  If your INBOX was piling up and not enough items were making it your OUTBOX, you probably got a visit from your supervisor complaining about your lack of efficiency.

 

Your email INBOX must be treated the same way as your 1960 INBOX.  Consider it more of a TO-DO list of things you need to accomplish.  Once the emails get answered they move to the OUTBOX and then get sent out to the recipient.  But you know the emails don’t actually leave your INBOX.  A copy remains there until you do something about it.  Here’s where we time travel back to 1960 again.

 

Two other items that are at your desk include your file drawers and trash can.  The file drawers might have those green hanging folders, called Pendaflex, that you can put nice clear plastics strips with the name of a client or a project.  Inside those we put manila folders of specific things within that client or project that needed to be kept separate from the rest of the items.  And the trash can was probably the same color as your desk and was right under your feet.  No recycling cans back in those days…everything went in there; papers, food, soda cans, you name it.

So now we head back to our email.  You know about the trash can or Deleted Items folder.  Get in the habit of deleting items once you’ve answered the email.  It’s a good method of keep things tidy, even if the email thread is still ongoing.  Getting rid of the latest email after you’ve responded keeps your INBOX lean.  If you need to keep it in your INBOX as a reminder, use the FLAG or FOLLOW-UP option.  Don’t forget to delete it when it’s resolved to keep things in order.

 

Many times we need to keep emails for one reason or another.  Perhaps there’s some important info that you’ll need to access later, like airline or hotel reservations for a flight 3 months from now.  I don’t want that getting buried in my INBOX.  I put in a folder called TRAVEL so I can easily find it later.  There are many times when we need to save emails, so think like a 1960 file drawer.  Label your folders for easy sorting and retrieval later.  As an example, I have a folder called PERSONAL and under that I have folders named TRAVEL, COLLEGE, INSURANCE, TENNIS, GOLF and ’73 NOVA (a sweet hot rod I work on with my kids).  At the end of a project, I’ll locate the last sent item from that email thread and save that in a folder.  It will have all the info I need (except attachments so keep those emails too as they arrive) and it’s all in a nice, neat package.

 

So bottom line…go back in time to realize some new-age efficiencies.  Keep your INBOX lean by deleting the emails you’ve answered via the OUTBOX or the ones you don’t want at all (mark the ones as SPAM if necessary).  Consider your INBOX your TO-DO list and you’ll be happy.  Sort and save the ones that are important so you can get back to them later.

A computer costs $200 a year?

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Yup, it’s true.

 

The facts behind this are based on over 30 years of experience installing and repairing computers.  If we look at typical usage, by the typical person in a typical environment; a computer costs about $200 a year.  Your results may vary based on workload, but generally this rule applies to almost everyone.

 

If you purchased a computer for $1000, expect it to last about 5 years.  Many people who put down $1500 or more on a Mac or high-end PC will have a good experience for 7-8 years.  It’s the same on the low-end.  You will be frustrated and will end up ditching that $400 laptop you bought at the big box store after just 2 years because it will become so slow as to be unusable.  Your smartphone is faster, so why not use that instead!

 

This continues after the life-cycle of the computer is reached and you are faced with an upgrade or repair situation.  If after 5 years, your $1000 computer is limping along then upgrade it instead of buying a new one.  Keep those computers out of the landfill please!  An upgrade can preserve the environment…and your well-being.  Sort of.

 

All of our computers have a unique “personality” that’s all our own.  We like the way the screen is laid out and where the icons are.  The programs all work the way we like (or tolerate) and all the accounts are properly logged into for email and websites.  We know where everything is, and it works the way we expect.  My mom used to say, “the devil you know is the devil you can deal with”.  The same thing applies here.  While the computer may not be perfect, we know exactly what to do to make it work and get what we need.

 

To recreate that personality on a new computer can be tough.  There are programs that exist to move programs and data from old computers to new ones, but sometimes any sluggishness or bad behavior can move over at the same time.  And why would we want to slow down our new computer?  The reason we bought it was because the old one was slow!  So, if you’re over 40 and not a proponent of change, upgrade that computer instead and use the same $200/year rule.

 

Upgrades to the operating system can often improve performance, but not typically.  If your computer was frozen in time and you didn’t need that new gadget or software feature and never upgraded anything, your computer would run well.  It may not have all the security benefits of the new software, but it will run well.  As soon as we start upgrading the operating system to accommodate new software or new gadgets, we will likely need to upgrade the computer to keep running well. Keep the $200 rule in mind when upgrading.  If you spend $300 for an upgrade, that PC better run for another year and a half or it was not worth it.

 

One revolutionary upgrade that is being performing daily is swapping out the old, slow hard drive in your computer for a new Solid-State Drive (SSD).  There are no moving parts in SSD drives and they generally increase performance by a factor of 7.  That’s right…your computer will run 7 times faster!  Everything from the old hard drive can move to an SSD.  The process is called cloning and it’s just like it sounds.  We can move every little nuance of your computers’ personality to the faster hard drive.

 

We continue to be stunned at how well these upgrades work.  We can easily take any computer; laptop, desktop, PC or Mac and make it run better than it ever did if it has one of the old hard drives.  Computers that are 8 or 9 years old get upgraded and run as fast as one you can buy today…sometimes faster!  Even here the $200/year rule applies.  While these upgrades can cost between $300-$600, users are getting another 2-3 years out of there aging, but devilishly comfortable, computer.  After all, if you’re over 40 you don’t like change…unless it’s a change in speed!