T4L: Pass On Passive Passwords

Advisory: Change all your critical account passwords (email, bank, social media) immediately and often.

I agree, it is troublesome to come up with complex and unique passwords for every online account or service (in my case, 82 and counting), but I believe (from anecdotal experience only thank God) that it is less troublesome than having your data, PC, money and or identity stolen, held at ransom, revealed or deleted.

The Problem
So, here is the background, way back (in tech terms at least) in 2012, there was a data breach.  LinkedIn, Tumblr, MySpace (remember them?) and other sites were hacked, releasing some 117 million login details including passwords into the wild.  I can’t say why the data remained underground so long; I can say, however, that the data is available for sale and is being sold to some bad people (yup, that is a technical term).

This affects you (and me), if you haven’t changed your password in a couple of years or if you re-use passwords across different platforms.  The hackers are, right this minute, using the data to attack your accounts.  And, they have succeeded.  High profile celeb accounts like Mark Zuckerberg's were among those compromised this week.  Think about it, he’s one of the world’s greatest programmers, and he was hacked.  Still feel you’re immune?

The Option
You can check if you've been compromised at: haveibeenpwned.com, but personally, I’m busy.  So, I’d rather skip this step, assume all old passwords have been compromised and set new ones.  Even “the leader of the free world” resets his nuclear launch codes periodically, why can’t you reset a few passwords?

So real is the threat, that several sites forced subscribers to reset their passwords to gain access.  They completely denied access with old passwords.  Why not take their lead and take a moment to reset all your passwords.

The Solution
Before you start to complain about the brain power required to compute and mentally store scores of unique passwords, consider a password manager.  Check out cross-platform options like 1Password and LastPass.  Apple ecosystem dwellers can rely on Keychain.  Trust me, this is not the time to skimp; pay for the best service you can afford and enjoy convenient features and options.

While you're at it, going through all your accounts individually and setting up UNIQUE passwords for EACH account, why not take another moment to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on every account that supports it.  Recently Google made 2FA simpler and other will follow suit, but that is for another post.

The combination of strong, unique passwords and 2FA is , currently, the best protection against hacking.

Tech4Life airs every Wednesday morning at 8:15 am on @RJR94FM

Jamaican Tech: Popup Shop

Bringing retail merchants and shoppers together is not so easy, especially if both the merchant and the buyer are on the move.  But, a novel new app, designed by Jamaicans, has a solution to that issue.  It’s called Popup Shop.



The concept is tried and proven, but the approach is new; harnessing technology to provide convenience.

In effect, a popup shop is any short term retail space.  Popup merchants are usually mobile and cater either to a niche or a convince market.  Their success depends on setting up in a location, and at a time, when several buyers are likely to see the shop.

The Popup Shop app helps merchants reach out to new and existing customers to alert them of, in effect, where the bargains are.

To set up, retailers register for the service online at http://popup-shop.co and provide details on their products, including images, and the locations at which they will be located.  In addition to the app auto pushing the location of the retailer at the time the retailer will be at the location, the app can also provide analytical information to guide merchants as to where interested customers may be congregated and ready to shop.

It’s a wonderful marketing tool for retailers and an ultra convenient service for shoppers.  The location aware app guides shoppers to their interests nearby.  They also get deals, specials and giveaways as a part of special promotions for registered users.

Though based in Jamaica, the very nature of the app is global.  Both merchants and shoppers anywhere in the world can benefit from the home grown app.  The team of entrepreneurs that developed the app, many of which in their early 20’s include:  Dmitri Dawkins, Jermaine Watson, Julian Josephs, Jon Thompson, Kevin Rowe, Jovan Evans, and Wayne Dawkins.

Popup Shop emerged as the third place winner from the ConnectiMass facilitated Startup Weekend Jamaica.  The two day tech entrepreneur workshop sponsored by Columbus Business Solutions,  helped teams take business ideas from pitches to business plan over a 54 hour long workshop.

Tech 4 Life airs every Wednesday morning at 8:15 am on RJR 94 FM.

High Speed Internet - Cloud Backup

Ideally, your computer system should have three copies: a physical backup on a external drive, a second, offsite backup and a cloud backup.



The first physical backup is extremely accessible and will be the first point of contact if files need to be restored.  However, if there is more than a system crash, but a small catastrophe such as a theft or fire, the original and the first backup in close proximity are both vulnerable.

This is why an offsite backup is also recommended.  Having a full system back up at a friends house, or other suitable location, which can be accessed if the data and main backup are destroyed is prudent.

But again, a larger catastrophe, or even something as simple as your friend being on vacation with the house keys could render you incapacitated.

Fortunately, the third cloud based backup remained immediately accessible at all times.

In its simplest form, backing up to the cloud simply means saving files online; this could be a complete backup or a backup of select files.  It should also include the backup of other devices, their data and their settings.  Devices like smartphones and modems, ideally, should make the backup list.

The simplest method is to email files to yourself.  Cloud based email has become more sophisticated and many services have storage tied to the account.  iCloud, Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive and SkyDrive all offer free online storage that can be used to backup important files up to a point.

Free storage is generally available from your Internet Service Providers (ISP) as well.

If you prefer to have your own cloud, advanced users can configure an external hard drive to be accessible over the internet at any time. Less skilled users can opt for a pre-programmed, pre-packaged personal cloud option like pogoplug.

If that is still too much for you, paid services like Dropbox and Carbonite can work in the background to ensure you, and your data, are covered.

When deciding on which option is best, nothing beats a free trial.  Assess the option based on several factors including security and encryption policies, accessibility, scalability of space and multipoint syncing.

The first backup can take several hours and even days.  Even the subsequent, incremental backups can take time.  Especially without the benefit of a reliable, high speed internet connection.  Ultimately however, cloud backup offers the most reliable, cost effective option to ensure full data recovery.

RJR's Tech4Life airs every Wednesday at 8:15 am.