Tag Archives: National Cyber Security Awareness Month

PTJ 250: “El Kaiser, Did We Forget to Mention This Was Our 250th Episode?”

Google took its turn spewing out the fall product lineup this week, with the Pixel 2 phone, Pixelbook laptop, Pixel Pen Stylus — and a whole bunch of Google Home offerings — announced. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s big hack was worse then the company previously announced (why, yes, it is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month). The former Equifax CEO got trolled hard at his Senate hearing and NASA invites space fans to send their names to Mars. Upward!

Links to Stories Mentioned on This Week’s Show

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint: Lock It Down

Operating systems and websites have gotten increasingly nosy cover the past few years — dipping into your contacts, peeking at your email, tracking your location and that sort of thing. While the increased personalization can be helpful for virtual assistant software, some people just don’t want their address books rifled through, or targeted local ads following them around the Web. If you side with the latter, it’s time to dive into your privacy settings and tighten things up.

Microsoft has been taking a lot of heat over privacy concerns in its Windows 10 system the past few months, and the company even made a statement on its blog recently. Microsoft, however,  is far from the only one diving into your data, though: Google, Apple and Facebook have all had their own privacy flaps over the years.

By default, the Windows 10 system settings are all up in your business — especially if you used the Express option during setup — but you can go back in later and  change your settings. Keep in mind, icing your info may hinder Cortana or your Bing results, but it’s your decision. Like most major companies, Microsoft has its privacy policy posted on its site, along with a privacy FAQ page and details about privacy within certain functions of Windows 10, like text input or using Cortana.

winpriv

Google has several services you may already use, like Gmail and YouTube, so check out the Big G’s privacy policy, your Google account settings and the site’s security tools.

As for Apple, check out the company’s privacy policy and fine-tune your settings in OS X and iOS as you see fit.

macpriv

And Facebook, perhaps the King of User Privacy Freakouts, has its own Data Policy posted online. The site also has a Privacy Basics guide to make sure you can control what you share with other people, if not Facebook itself.

Oh, and Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month!

PTJ 113: A Good Turn For Cybersecurity Awareness Month

David Perry, threat strategist for F-Secure, joins J.D. and El Kaiser on the show this week and reminds us to remain steadfast and ever vigilant against the scourge of malware.

In the news, Apple rolls out new hardware; Google experiments with with video links for live medical chats; Symantec considers breaking up into two separate companies; Aereo keeps swinging away; Microsoft reports that more than a million people have registered for access to the Windows 10 Technical Preview; Samsung works on speeding up WiFi specs; and Mars gets set for a close encounter with a comet.

Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month!

Among other things, October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. (Quick, go send a card!) David Perry, threat strategist for F-Secure, drops by via Skype this week with tips for how to properly observe the occasion — by promoting awareness and helping those who need a little extra geek in their lives to secure their systems.

Don’t forget that mobile security is a huge issue too. Plenty of mobile security apps are available (including F-Secure’s own Freedome app for Android and iOS, which features a built-in VPN), but be on guard for the usual phishing messages and other typical tactics that plague any platform. For those who celebrate it, here’s the full schedule of events for NCSAM, along with some year-round tips for staying safe online. Okay, who’s going as point-of-sale malware for Halloween this year?