2FA and you

2FA (two factor authentication) and why it’s important to you.

Two factor authentication is important because it gives you a little bit more say in who is logging in to your accounts. As in it lets you know immediately and asks your permission for them to be logged in.

When someone goes to log into an account most systems ask for the obligatory Username and Password and then they’re granted access. With 2FA after they put that info in a third request is made by the system. This third request is in the form of either an email request or text request saying something such as “we have a request from this device is it you and do you give permission”, or possibly ” we have someone trying to log in from such device here is a pin to type in on that device”. 

If you receive this and it’s not you, you know that John Doe somewhere else has figured out your login info and it’s time to change that 1234 password to something a little more obscure and it’s time to possibly go through a few other accounts you have and change the passwords to maybe something a little more secure ( like your favorite 16 + long alpha-numeric symbol string ) plus add some 2FA to those accounts. (I’d recommend not waiting for that kind of thing to happen to change passwords though, make sure you’re being secure.)

It may seem like a lot of work and sometimes you type in your password the second time with frustration in your eyes but it does help a lot in making you safer online.

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Where did all the speed go?

When you get that new computer it comes with not only the latest and greatest updates in hardware (hopefully) but also that little thing everyone seems to forget about until later in the PC’s life, SPEED. It is the most referenced thing to a computer that people say to me when they ask me to look at their computer. “It’s acting weird and running slow.” , “When it was new it was SO FAST, now I can make a pot of coffee before it loads up windows.”.

After time things happen to our PC’s that daisy chain into a mountain of processes causing our beloved PC to slow down, sometimes to unusable speeds. There are all kinds of steps we can take to ensure that we’re getting the quickest performance. Below are just a few suggestions.

• Updates / Anti-virus / Malware scanner – Make sure you are in the habit of updating and running these programs or having these programs scheduled to run ( and allowing them to do so) so they can keep your PC safe, up-to-date and running quicker.
• Startup programs – Keep an eye on those programs that startup when you turn your PC on, the more programs set to run at startup the longer its going to take. ( Startup Programs according to Microsoft )
• Disk management – Just depending on what kind of user you are and the hard drive you have as to how often you might need to do things like “disk de-fragment”. Generally this should be done about a once a month. ( Defraging your Hard drive according to Microsoft )
• Physical Computer cleaning – Most people keep their computers hidden away under the desk out of sight out of mind where they can work at peace without the sound of that annoying fan that keeps getting louder and louder until… A routine maintenance of these pieces of equipment to make sure they are clean inside will help not only speed them up but also keep them running longer.

There are a plethora of things that can be done but when its all said and done it comes down to “maintenance”. A little bit of time to ensure your machine is kept up and running will give you a longer, quicker running machine.

A word about staying secure socially.

As the new rounds EIP funds and tax refunds are being sent out we need to remember that this is a prime time for scammers.

1 – Don’t click on links in emails, texts or instant messages from people you don’t know.

2 – Don’t give information out on any of those “about me” social media posts.

3 – Go through your social media accounts and go over what you have listed in your bio/posts and determine what if any of it can be used to guess passwords to your secure accounts.

Being proactive is the first step to keeping your financial information safe.

For additional reading,

https://www.in.gov/isp/3103.htm

https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/tax-fraud-alerts

https://m.facebook.com/help/225602007465207

Backups and Coffee

This morning as I sit with my second cup of coffee I am thinking about a recent situation I’ve come across. Backing up important files and storing them. I can give an honest account at the moment that over 50% of my clients have come to me because of a system crash and they never backed up their data. Less than 10% of the people who’ve come to me for this don’t get their data back. All these people could have avoided the need for data recovery had they kept a regular backup routine. This is a lesson often learned to late.