There is nothing, hardware or software, that is unhackable.
Let’s get that out of the way right off the bat. If a hacker — a real
hacker, not someone with a set of easily available hacking tools —
really wants your information, they will get it. The same can be said
for the NSA or any other state-sponsored organization.
This is a guide to help you deter the type of
people degenerates that recently forced their way into
celebrity iCloud accounts to pull down private photos. Whether they used
brute force to guess the password or an
off the shelf piece of software,
a combination of these precautions could mean the difference between a
mild inconvenience (like having to change a password) and having your
personal information (including photos) plastered all over the Internet.
And the Internet never forgets.
And it’s not going to get any better. While news of the celebrity hack is still fresh in our minds,
Home Depot
is investigating its own hacking related issues. The hackers are
winning right now. Even Apple has informed developers that they
can’t store
HealthKit data in iCloud.
So defend yourself against the jerks and sociopaths.
Passwords and Password Managers
A strong password is a good first step to securing your data. But you
need to do more than just use a combination of letters and symbols. To
reduce the chances of having your password guessed or brute forced, use a
password manager and use a randomly generated alpha-numeric password that’s at least 20 characters long.
LastPass,
Dashlane,
RoboForm,
mSecure and
1Password are cross platform services that work via the mobile Web in addition to native apps.
Not only will it generate random passwords, it will warn you when
you’re using the same password on multiple sites, a huge security error
that many of us are guilty of committing. If you would rather manage
your own passwords, make sure they are all different. When you use the
same password everywhere, when one site or service is compromised,
suddenly the hackers have access to your entire digital life.
Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication acts as stop-gap when a new device tries to
log into a service or site. For example, with Twitter’s two-factor
authentication feature enabled, when you try to log into your account
with a new device, it sends you a text message with a temporary
password. In other words, you can’t log into an account without your
phone and the temporary password sent to that phone.
You’ll be alerted when someone is trying to get into your account even if they have your password.
Apple,
Twitter,
Dropbox,
Microsoft and
Google all use two-factor authentication. Set these up for extra security.
Don’t Back Up Sensitive Data or Your Phone Online
The cloud is
supposed to be secure. This weekend we learned,
not so much. If you’re dealing with sensitive images, documents, or
videos, its best to keep them off all external servers. That means not
allowing services like iCloud, Dropbox, Flickr, Google Drive, an
d others
to auto-upload data to their cloud storage. Instead, keep that
sensitive data on an external drive that’s only accessed when you’re
offline.
Wickr CEO
and co-founder Nico Sell warns that there are all kind of dangerous
websites out there with malware that could compromise your computer and
give a hacker access to your data.
This also means not backing up your smartphone to the cloud. Those
backups are a treasure trove of data. Everything about you is in that
backup. Keep it password protected and local.
Don’t Link Accounts
When Wired’s Mat Honan
suffered a hack
of his entire digital life in 2012, one of the side victims of his
hacking was Gizmodo’s Twitter account. Honan had linked his personal
account to Gizmodo’s when he had worked for the publication. When his
account was compromised, by proxy so was Gizmodo’s and both accounts
began tweeting the nonsense usually associated with hacked Twitter
accounts.
In a world where Facebook Login is commonplace and some apps and
services only work if you use your Facebook Login credentials, it’s
difficult to keep accounts separated.
Facebook does offer two-factor authentication so
there’s at least a stopgap for the entry into all those linked
accounts. But if it’s possible, use a separate account for everything
each with its own unique login and password information. It’s also a
good idea to see which apps you have linked to your
Facebook and
Twitter accounts and remove ones that you no longer use.
Security Questions
At some point these made sense. Probably before social networks had
us sharing all our personal information with friends, family and then
eventually the world. Now security questions like “What’s your mom’s
maiden name?” and “What’s the name of your favorite movie?” are easy to
answer by anyone that knows how to use Google, since we’ve shared most
of that information online. Instead of answering truthfully, come up
with unique answers that make zero sense in context. For example:
“What’s your favorite food?” could be answered with Buster Table.
Make sure it’s something memorable that has nothing to do with the actual question.
Misinformation
Since you’re already going to start answering questions with lies,
you might as well make your online persona a den of fabrications in the
name of security. “A lot of times people are disillusioned and feel
resistance is impossible and they just give up,” Sell said while talking
about people already in the thick of social networking, “the most
powerful tool going forward is misinformation.” She recommends changing
all the key things that are used by companies as security questions.
This includes your birthday, billing address, birth location, and family
ties.
Birthdates can prove to be a huge security risk. Just move your
birthday on Facebook a few days forward or back and maybe even change
the year or you can hide it. Most people won’t even notice and for those
that do, just tell them why and suggest they do the same.
Also, if you’re already friends on Facebook with family members,
there’s really no need to advertise that you’re also family. A smart
hacker can determine your mother’s maiden name via aunts, uncles,
cousins, and grandparents. Your mom doesn’t even need to be on Facebook
for her maiden name to be known.
Password Protect All Devices
This should be the first thing you do with a smartphone, tablet, or
computer. Your computing devices are just giant bags of personal
information. If any of them get stolen, why make it easier for the
culprits to steal your identity? Plus, you’re not just saving yourself
grief, but all of your contacts. Gathering email addresses is the first
step in hacking into a person’s accounts.
Site Specific Credit Card Numbers
Many
banks and credit cards offer single use
and temporary credit card numbers. Use these to your advantage. A
credit card number can be used to verify identification. In fact, when
Mat Honan was hacked all the hackers needed was the last four digits of
his credit card to establish identity. If you are using multiple cards
(all tied to the same account so you get one bill) when one account is
compromised, it doesn’t lead to a series of accounts being taken over by
hackers.
Privatize Your Website
If you own a domain name, chances are your name, address and phone number are freely available to anyone that does a
whois query.
Fortunately, you can privatize your domain registration. Go to the
domain registration site you use (the place where you purchased your
domain name). Sign in and look for the option to privatize your
information. If you can’t find the option, call the site and have them
walk you through the procedure. It’ll probably cost you a few dollars a
year, but it’s worth it.
Once again, nothing is hacker-proof if you’re targeted by a very
talented individual or state. And some of these precautions may seem
like overkill and the ravings of a someone that’s paranoid. But, if you
do everything right and it thwarts hackers before they even start, it’s
worth it.
In my earlier post, I had discussed about How to find the IP address of
a remote computer. After you obtain this IP address, it is necessary to
trace it back to the source. So, in this post I will show you how to trace any IP address back to its source.
Every computer on the Internet has a
unique IP address allotted to it which makes it possible to trace it
back to its exact location. Even though the concept of Internet Protocol
address has been designed for its transparency and traceability, in
some cases this questions the privacy of the Internet user where one
would not like to reveal his/her identity to the outside world.
With the advancement in the technology, cell phones have just turned
themselves into powerful mini-computers. While some people use cell
phones to exchange secret messages and maintain illicit relationships,
many children also misuse cell phones for storing and watching
inappropriate content. Hence, in order to investigate the truth it
becomes inevitable for people to spy on cell phones of their partners
and children.
After
your purchase, you can directly download mSpy onto the target cell
phone. Installation process takes only a few minutes (2-3 min approx).
The Run command on
Microsoft Windows operating system allows you to directly open an
application or document with just a single command instead of navigating
to its location and double-clicking the executable icon. However, it
only works for some of the inbuilt Windows programs such as Command prompt (cmd), Calculator (calc) etc.
