masterwordsmith-unplugged

The more I read about the changing trends in technology, the more I am convinced that we are heading for disaster. Crazy? Nope. Let me share a few observations with you even though it is way past my bedtime.

1. Never Sync Your Contacts

Many use smartphones for various reasons but are unaware of the dangers of synching contacts. It is advisable to use separate email addresses/facebook/twitter/whatever accounts for your smart phone and NEVER synch contacts.

Why?

You would not want people to know your contacts if there are security issues.

For instance, Violet Blue wrote in Cnet:

An alarming number of people are reporting that the new e-mail address Facebook forced on users this week is changing their address books while intercepting and losing unknown amounts of e-mail. 

Facebook users say contacts' e-mail addresses on phones and personal devices have been altered without their consent -- and their e-mail communication is being redirected elsewhere, and lost.

And you would not want people to know who are your contacts in different accounts for with that knowledge, they have privy to all the information they want to know about you and your life which will be an open for all and sundry to see.

The best thing to do is to save your contacts in vcf or Vcardand then transfer the contacts separately or to transfer your contacts to your SD card. Never sync and always backup in your computer.

2. Chrome Remote Viewing Plug-in

In October 2011, Cnet reported Google's release of a new Chrome extension to let a person on one computer remotely control another across the network.

The Chrome Remote Desktop beta version is a browser-based equivalent of remote desktop software for conventional operating systems. Such software is handy for IT administrators managing employees' machines, people taking care of their relatives' computers, or individuals getting access to their own machines from afar. 

"Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is the first installment on a capability allowing users to remotely access another computer through the Chrome browser or a Chromebook," the release notes said. "Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is fully cross-platform, so you can connect any two computers that have a Chrome browser, including Windows, Linux, Mac, and Chromebooks."

Chrome Remote Desktop BETA lets you remotely access another computer through your Google Chrome browser. Conversely, you can also use the app to let someone remotely access your computer, perfect for times when you need help solving a computer problem, but the person you’d like to get help from isn’t close by. Last but not least, you can take advantage of the app's functionality to access your own computers remotely.

• Add the Chrome Remote Desktop ap to your browser
• Share your computer
• Access a computer that has been shared with you
• Troubleshoot sharing issues
• Known issues

Source: HERE

 Learn about its dangers and how to consolidate AT THIS LINK.

3. The Dangers of Using Social Media

Read all about it and also how to take precautions HERE and HERE.

4. Warning about the dangers in browser syncing

Extract from Infosecurity reported:

Chrome v19 introduced a ‘tab sync’. This in turn, claims Imperva, introduces a new threat vector for business – a threat Imperva terms BYOB (bring your own browser).

With more and more people working from many more devices in many different locations, tab sync could be a boon. “When you’re signed in to Chrome,” announced Google, “your open tabs are synced across all your devices, so you can quickly access them from the ‘Other devices’ menu on the New Tab page.”

(Don’t panic if you can’t find it, ‘the tab sync feature will be rolled out... gradually over the coming weeks’.) But Google also adds, “Signing in to Chrome also syncs your bookmarks, apps, extensions, history, themes, and other settings.” This is what bothers Imperva, which sees two potential areas of compromise: personal data and browser behavior. More specifically, it says, “It provides the hacker with a simple way to leap from the victim's home environment (usually very insecure) to work environment (usually secured – updated AV and other end point solutions).”

5. Security Holes (Info-security)

Google has shipped version 21 of its Chrome browser, fixing 15 bugs in the process.

Only one of the security fixes is for a critical hole: a crash in tab handling vulnerability in Linux, related Google in its security advisory. Six fall into the high-risk category, and the rest are low to medium-risk bugs.

The high-risk bugs include integer overflows in PDF viewer, out-of-bounds writes in PDF viewer, buffer overflow in WebP decoder, and a number of use-after-free flaws.

Google was 'thrifty'' with the bug bounties, handing out only $2,000–$1,000 each to Arthur Gerkis and Juri Aedla. Many of the bugs were detected using the AddressSanitizer.

6. Imperva says hackers are tapping Google's powerful search engine features once again

7. Danger in syncing contact with Gmail

8. Dangers and pitfalls of Dropbox

The list is endless and I wish I could continue but it is almost two a.m. and I have to hit the sack. This is one of the rare moments when I am up so late as this Cinderella turns in by 11.30p.m. each night. Reading about all this kept my eyes wide away but now the eyelids are too heavy to continue.

So, use your smartphones, tablets or what-have-you's if you must but take precautions. As for me, it is back to basics of pen and paper now....