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Showing posts from October, 2019

Gmail: Now That You Have It, How Do You Secure It?

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Now that you have a Gmail account, keeping it secure is your new priority. A few simple email security steps can prevent strangers from taking over your account and your identity. 1) Your Computer a. Check for viruses and malware. Run a full system scan in your antivirus program of choice and remove any suspicious programs. b. Enable automatic updates for your operating system and make sure you have the latest updates installed for your Windows or Macintosh OS computer. c. Perform regular updates for the software you use most often -- Adobe Flash and Acrobat Reader are common targets for hackers. 2) Your Browser a) Keep everything updated! In Firefox, click the help menu to check for updates. In Internet Explorer, select Windows Update under the tools menu. b) be aware of plugins that access your Google account information and keep them updated. If a plugin, for instance, is set to automatically check your Google inbox, the creators of that plugin potentially have acces

Review: Russian Hackers Revealed 5 Million Usernames and Passwords

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Great news and bad news to Gmail username availability . The bad news is that someone has manipulated Gmail and revealed 5 million usernames and passwords and made them available to the public. The good news is Google has made a solution to it - that even if your Gmail address is on the list, the password may be obsolete enough to merit much concern. A Russian tech blog, Habrahabr, theoretically says that the leaks were most likely compiled using a phishing scam. This is one of the main reasons why Gmail requires a strong password to all of their users to avoid compromises. Weak passwords might be their targets, and hacking them is as easy as 123. A similar database or email address was also made public earlier this week, including Yandex and Mail.ru. Last September 10, the Australian Security Researcher, Troy Hunt, tweeted that he will soon be adding up the Gmail addresses to his very own haveibeenpwned.com - a compromised-email checking website, which sums up the results of l