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McAfee and Facebook
Not a bad offer here. Get a six month subscription to McAfee Internet Security if you become a fan on Facebook. Once you’re a fan, click on the ‘Protect My PC’ tab on the McAfee page.
If you’re wondering why the offer is greyed out, that’s because you have to become a fan first. Once done, select your language and the McAfee download page will load automatically.
It may also be worth become a fan of the Facebook Security page.
There’s no such thing as privacy
Fascinating post on the F-Secure blog about what privacy settings in Facebook really mean. Sean added a photo to a Facebook account making sure that every option was set to private. Unfortunately Facebook still adds a public link for the image. Checking the link I realised that this isn’t just a link for anyone on Facebook, you don’t even need to logged in to view it.
Something to bear in mind before you post photos, no matter how funny they are.
Sage password advice from Lifehacker
Passwords. They keep our details and web accounts safe, but they are a real pain to remember. I have to rely on the good nature of our IT department every time I come back from holiday because I invariably forget my password.
The temptation is to try and avoid having to remember them whenever possible, but this can be a big problem, especially if your laptop is stolen.
Lifehacker gives some helpful advice in their article ‘Your passwords aren’t as secure as you think; Here’s how to fix that’.
It was something of an eye-opener for me. I hadn’t realised that the Pidgin instant messaging software stores all of the passwords as plain text. They have a good reason for doing so (not giving a false sense of security) but as I had never known this I still had the false sense of security.
Thankfully there is plenty of useful advice on how to keep your passwords safe with password managers that use encryption. Well worth a read.
Windows 7 and network file storage problems
At first glance an article about getting Windows 7 to work with the Samba file server software might seem overly techie. But this software is often used by network attached hard disks.
If you have been having problems this article from LinuxPlanet.com has some helpful hints on how to fix problems in Windows 7 by changing network settings. It seems a shame that the solution is to turn off some Windows 7 security features but, as Charlie Schluting points out, it is often not possible to upgrade the software on network attached storage devices.
Important update for Opera browser
Opera version 10.10 has been released and it’s very important that you upgrade as soon as possible. Click on the Help menu and then Check for updates.
According to ZDNet, the most serious flaw could allow an attacker to take complete control of the computer, and you don’t need me to tell you that’s a bad thing.
Updates for Firefox and Opera
Time to update your browsers again with updates released for both Firefox and Opera.
Firefox 3.5.4 fixes several security and stability problems and lets you re-submit crash reports.
The update should download automatically, but if you want to make sure, click on the Help menu and then Check for Updates.
The update for Opera (10.01) also fixes some security problems as well as some bugs including random instances of downloads not starting and problems with creating a new mail account.
Checking for updates is exactly the same as Firefox
Look closely to install AVG Free 9
AVG Free has been a valuable tool in the battle against malware offering a decent level of protection without costing people anything. It benefits everybody in the long run because fewer unprotected computers mean fewer bots, computers that have been hijacked by hackers and used in online attacks.
The trouble is that when a new version comes out, AVG Free 9 in this case, the upgrade process causes some headaches. The AVG window says that a new version is available with a large, friendly, button to upgrade. The problem is that the webpage you get taken to doesn’t appear to have any reference to the free version. Click on the image on the right to see the full page as appeared on my computer.
If you want to stick with the free version of AVG, you will need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen and look for the rather small text ‘update my current product only’.
I can’t blame AVG for wanting people to upgrade to the paid protection, but I don’t think it should be this hard to upgrade. At least you know now.
Network security with a sense of humour
One of the dangers of a wireless home network is neighbours using the internet connection that you pay for. The best advice is to enable WPA security on the network to make people enter a password to use the site. I also hide the SSID of the network and am considering using MAC filtering; only allowing access to specific network adapters
This is all well and good, but if you favour the philosophy of ‘Don’t get mad, get even’, you may want to consider the Upside-Down-Ternet. It’s a little technical, but the results are quite funny. If someone connects to the network without permission, all the images in web pages are run through a local webserver, flipping them upside down in the process.
It pretty much makes the web unusable. All you need is a way of hearing the reaction of the connection thieves when you turn it on! Still the idea was made into a cartoon by the ever excellent xkcd.
Firefox 3.5.3 warns of insecure Flash Player
We’re used to Firefox checking add-ons after an upgrade but the latest update has some extra advice on the webpage opened after restarting. There’s been an update to Adobe Flash for both security and stability. Keeping add-ons and such up to date on Firefox can become a confusing business so any extra help is most welcome
Changes coming for Windows Update
Be prepared for some updates coming for Windows Update. According to the Windows Update Product Team Blog it’s all automatic and won’t change any settings of when and how updates are installed. More information here.
