Tag Archives: computer

Top Eight Rules for Creating Strong Passwords

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Follow these simple steps to create a password that is hard to hack.

  1. When possible, use at least 12 characters. Never use less than 8.
  2. Use a variety of characters including letters, numbers, punctuation, and upper and lower case. The greater the variety, the stronger your password will be.
  3. Avoid using real words from any language.
  4. Avoid using real words spelled backwards, abbreviations or common misspellings.
  5. Avoid using repeated characters or rows of adjacent keyboard characters.
  6. Never use personal information such as your birthday, driver’s license number, family member or pet’s name.
  7. Never use your username as your password.
  8. Test your password with an online password checker to determine its strength.

Having trouble coming up with a good password on your own? Google “free online password generator” for help creating a secure password.

If you’re on a Mac running a recent version of OS X, your system comes with a built in password assistant. This tool can generate passwords that are easy to remember but hard to crack. To access this tool, go to System Preferences > Accounts and click on your account. Click on Change Password, then click on the key icon to see a password suggestion meeting various criteria. Click on the down arrow next to the suggested password to see more suggestions.

Are You Streetwise Online?

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The most important factor in protecting your computer from malicious software is not which security package you install, or which browser you use. Far more important than any technical solution is the behavior of the user.

Just like in a big city, different locations present different levels of risk. The dark neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks is riskier than the well-lit streets of downtown. Similarly, websites or file sharing services that promise free cracked software or adult movies are more likely to contain harmful content than well-known websites run by reputable companies.

Being streetwise in a city isn’t just about which streets you choose to walk on, it’s also about how you assess and respond to those you encounter, even in the best neighborhoods. Someone on a street corner selling cheap Rolexes might be offering a great bargain, or they might just be out to rip you off.

The analogy still holds for online threats. A favorite tactic of online thieves is to hitch their threat to the latest hot topic using what’s known as poisoned search results. When the latest royal wedding was in the news, a search for images of Kate Middleton and Prince William included results that required the user to install new software before viewing the pictures. Did someone really invent a new type of image file just for this event? Of course not – the software was a trojan.

How can you tell if the website you’re about to visit is legitimate? The easiest way is to hover your mouse over the link and read your status bar. Make sure the component of the address that comes right before the first single slash matches what the text claims it to be. Then pay close attention to any deal you’re offered. Celebrity pictures or videos in exchange for installing new software? Just walk on by.

None of this means you shouldn’t install security software to help protect yourself. When clients ask I usually recommend a free package, not because they’re better but because the user will never be tempted to let their subscription lapse for the sake of a few dollars. Just don’t forget that the best security software can never provide 100% protection – user behavior is key.

Netiquette Tip: Avoid Sending Word Attachments

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Let’s say you’ve created a Word document and you want to send a copy to your coworker. Common practice is to compose a new email and simply attach the word document to it. But proper email etiquette suggests that you ask yourself, “Does the layout of this document matter?”

Casually attaching Word documents to your emails can cause problems for the receiver:

  1. Word documents are unnecessarily large for the information they contain. Compare the size of a word documents with a plain text email containing the same information and you’ll find that the Word document is much larger.
  2. Word documents are susceptible to a type of virus known as a “macro virus.” It’s harder for this type of virus to spread if you don’t email Word documents. Plain text emails cannot contain viruses.
  3. Opening a Word attachment requires starting up the Word program. For slower machines this will affect performance.
  4. Word documents created with one version may not be readable by another, forcing others to upgrade or leaving them unable to open the attachment.

Before attaching that Word document, please ask yourself, “Is the information I am sending simply text? Does the layout really matter? Does the receiver need to review color, column width, font size or images? If the answer is no, copy and paste the text into a plain text email.
Trevellyan.biz offers on-site and remote computer services for PC and Mac in addition to graphic design, marketing and advertising. If you’re interested in any of the services we offer, please call 518.392.0846 or email suzanne@trevellyan.biz.

Backup Basics

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If you store information on a computer, you need backups. All electronic data is at some risk of loss or destruction, whether through equipment failure, user error, malicious intent or natural disaster. The question is not, “Do I need a backup?” but, “What type of backup do I need?” Thinking about the questions below can help you to answer this question.

What Should I Backup?
Any data you can’t bear to risk losing must be backed up. For a business this might include all your customer and financial records. For a home user it might mean hundreds of digital photos of your grandchildren. Think about all the information you have stored on any computer. For each item that you’d hate to lose, can it be easily recreated or obtained from another source? If not, then it must be backed up.

When Should I Backup?
How often does the information you’re backing up change? How much work can you stand to lose? Would your business (and your sanity) survive if you had to restore from last week’s backup and spend another week filling in the gaps? If so, weekly backups at the end of your busiest day might be sufficient. If not, you might need daily or hourly backups.

How Should I Backup?
The ideal answer is, “Automatically”. The elements most likely to break any backup strategy are human error and inertia. Modern backup software can run continuously in the background, detecting changes to files as they happen and making backups according to a schedule of your choosing. If automatic backup isn’t an option, partial automation is the next best thing. If you can double-click an icon on your desktop to run a backup every day, you’re more likely to do so than if you have to navigate through menus and options every time.

Where Should I Backup?
Making a copy of a file on the same hard drive doesn’t count! Equipment failure will destroy your backup along with your original. If you’re serious about protecting your data, you need both onsite and offsite backups.

Onsite
Onsite backups provide immediate access to old versions of files and copies of accidentally deleted files. They can also get you up and running again within minutes of a hard drive failure. Additional internal or external hard drives represent a highly effective and affordable solution for onsite backups.

Offsite
Offsite backups protect you against less likely but more catastrophic events that result in physical loss or destruction of both your live data and your onsite backups. Portable hard drives can work well, but you have to remember to exchange the offsite copies. If you have a high speed internet connection, online backups are a great alternative, and if your backup set is small enough they can even be free.

What Now?
Call us today at 518.392.0846 to discuss your backup needs. We’ll work with you to understand your requirements so we can recommend and implement a suitable backup strategy for you.