Take Control of Your Passwords
Author: Joe Kissell
Publisher: TidBITS Publishing Inc.
Price: US $10
88 pages
ISBN-10: 978-1-61542-418-4
In my years as an engineer working in the defense industry, I had to regularly deal with many levels of security and comply with a multitude of security requirements. Today, I am prudent and reasonably confident and comfortable with my everyday personal computer security. Recently I added a password manager application to my personal computer and mobile devices but suspected I may not be using this application to its fullest capability.
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Gaz and Guy have been at it for 3 years and no signs of slowing down. What is it about these two people that keep you coming back each week? Their charm? Their intelligence? Their ever so thoughtful insights into the world of Apple? Nah, must be the larfs. This week however, they have a discussion about the seriousness of keeping your Mac secure and what are some of the things to look out for.
Links:
Guy’s App Pick: Vizzywig by i4software free!
Gaz’s App Pick: SCOtutor For Mac
People’s Pick: From Troy Muller PrivacyFix
Take Control of Networking & Security in iOS 6
Author: Glenn Fleishman
Publisher: TidBITS Publishing, Inc.
Price: $10.00
127 pages, Ebook
ISBN: 9781615424122
Did you ever wonder how to set up a mobile hotspot? Maybe you don’t understand the difference between WPA2 and WEP security. What’s the big deal about having a secure password for a home WiFi network? If you ever had any of these question, Glenn Fleishman answers all these questions, and more, in his latest book, Take Control of Networking & Security in iOS 6.
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Passware Password Kit Forensic 11.5
Publisher: Passware, Inc.
Price: $995
Product Page
This month, I obtained a review copy of Passware’s “Passware Password Kit Forensic 11.5″. For brevity’s sake, I’ll refer to it as “Passware” for the rest of this review. Passware is a password recovery/cracking system which has the ability to work on multiple file types. The Forensic Kit version adds more features, such as cracking of filesystem passwords and resetting Windows user account passwords.
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The advent of social networks and cloud computing have brought with them questions about privacy and security, both from technical and ethical standpoints. This was brought to the forefront again this past week, as many iOS users might know, when a social network called Path was found to be uploading its users’ contact information without notifying them that it was doing so.
The reaction in the online media was pretty much one of condemnation. Certainly Path made several mistakes. First, they should have alerted users that they were going to upload contact information, request permission to do so, and inform them as to exactly why they were doing this and what they were doing with this information. They also should not have sent the information to their servers in plain text rather than as encrypted data, because doing so allows anyone on a public Wi-Fi network to potentially gain access to your contact data if they are sniffing network traffic at the time the contact information is sent to Path’s servers.
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The Mac OS X 10.7 Lion PocketGuide
Author: Jeff Carlson
Publisher: Peachpit Press
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-77661-7, 240 pages
Price: Paperback US$11.99, Book + eBook Bundle US$16.19, eBook only US$9.59
If you’re after a quick pocket guide book that offers more detail than other competing books, I suggest you pick up The Mac OS X 10.7 Lion PocketGuide book.
The author, Jeff Carlson, takes readers through Lion in a way that anyone at any level can adapt to. Within the easy to follow guides in each chapter, readers will find a treasure trove of addition hints and tips to help you perfect your user experience.
Some have implied that Macs are safe from Viruses or Worms; thus they are secure or nearly impervious. While I like their enthusiasm, I think they are being a little too optimistic; so some cynical realism is in order.
First, we need to understand the terms. A computer virus (or worm) is a self-replicating program or something that “spreads” and makes copies of itself without permission or the user even knowing about it. These programs “infect” other programs, documents or the system, so that in the future accessing those files will run the virus and spread it even more. Thus a computer virus inserts itself into the users computer or on other programs, like a real virus would invade your cells. Like other life forms, its primary purpose is propagating the species and survive.
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You know how a child has a certain toy or something that is their
“security”? Some have security blankets, teddy bears or even pacifiers (thank goodness for pacifiers). Well, just the other day I found out what one of my security blankets is.
I just moved. No questions please. Through all the hassle of filling
empty boxes, emptying full boxes and carrying heavy furniture (my back is killing me) up and down stairs and just getting acquainted with my new
surroundings, I found myself wandering around my apartment feeling
somewhat out of focus. I didn’t know what to do next. I thought to
myself that I could at least get my computer and printer set up on my
desk. Seemed like a simple project and something that could get done
quickly. You know the routine like I do, first, untangle all the power
cords and the network cable for the LaserWriter IInt. Then get
everything setup and plugged in. Hit the switch on the surge protector (you do have one, don’t you?) and you hear the familiar “Chongggg” that lets you know that all is well with your Mac. That’s when it hit me, that familiar sound. Call me crazy but I immediately sat down and started fiddling with my Mac. I changed a few things like my After Dark module (I really like Nirvana, not the band, but the module from AD 3.0) and I even changed my Desktop to the Teal Blue (#41 in the Desktop Patterns). No big changes; just something to do.
After I had done that, I went about my business to get other things done. Man, there is a lot to do when you move. I noticed that something was different about the way the apartment felt. It seemed more comfortable and the atmosphere was better. I know you’ll think I’m nuts (join the club) but it was because my Mac was working. I’m writing this article right now because I knew that I had to try my best to express this thought and there was no better time than while I feel it.
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