Has your personal information been involved in a breach?

 Unfortunately data breaches around the world occur periodically.  How can you check to see if your personal information has been involved?  You can use this website: https://haveibeenpwned.com/

Enter your email address or username. Then click the pwned? button. The site will tell you if a breach has occurred including your info.  This site will not ask for passwords; it is "safe" to share your email address/username with it.  Repeat this process for all of your email addresses AND the usernames for any of your online accounts.

What should you do if an email or username has been compromised in a breach?  Log into that website or email account online and change your password.  If two-factor authentication is available for your compromised account, enable it.

Please take a minute to check your personal info today.... maybe while enjoying your morning drink of choice and listening to the rain on the roof?

Happy first-Tuesday-of-spring!

A Malicious Post on Facebook

A couple of weeks ago a strange post from a friend showed up on my Facebook page.  The post tagged me and 26 other friends. Here is a screenshot from that post:

I did not click the link to view the video and a couple of days later I read a warning about this type of post:  If the link is clicked, it may ask you to install an update which when installed can then retrieve financial and credit card information for use by scammers.  

Two things you should do if something like this shows up on your Facebook page:
1) Delete the post by clicking on the ellipsis (three dots) in the top right-hand corner of the post. If Delete is not an option, then "Hide the Post"
2) Notify the person who supposedly "tagged" you (they really didn't; it was something from their account that sent this out.)  Encourage them to follow the directions on this page to remove any apps that might have been installed by Facebook without their permission.

You've heard it before but it bears repeating:  Be cautious clicking on links on the internet (not just on Facebook).  Period.

Have a terrific tech Tuesday. Period. Spring will soon arrive! :-)

Spam Phone Calls

Those annoying phone calls regarding your "compromised" computer once again seem to be on the increase.   I regularly remind people about this type of spam/phishing phone call but when it actually happens to them they become concerned, or even worse, do what the phone call asks them to do.

Yesterday a concerned friend forwarded me a voicemail warning her that her "personal information might possibly have been compromised and to "Press 1" to speak with the security team now."  Even though you've heard it before and we know about these techniques, when it happens to you it can be unsettling.  Remember this - creating fear is one of the main techniques a spammer/hacker will use to get you to share some of your confidential information.  Another is a "sense of urgency": "you need to do this NOW"

So a friendly reminder in today's Tech Tip:  If your phone (either landline or smartphone) displays a number you do not recognize, just let it ring.  Do not answer. Period.  If the call is legitimate, a voicemail will be left and you can immediately return the call.

Hope you can find some time today to leave your phone inside and go outdoors to enjoy this beautiful almost-spring weather (despite the wind).  :-)

Shazam it!

I remember downloading Shazam quite a few years ago and using it to identify songs playing on the radio or TV.  It wasn't always successful in the identification and it still isn't, but it is much improved.  With iOS 14, Shazam is now a built-in feature of the iPhone operating system and comes with the ability to identify music that is playing not only on other devices but also on your iPhone and headphones. You no longer have to download the app if you are using an Apple product; Android users will download it from the Google Play store.

How might you use Shazam? 
1) While watching someone's TikTok you want to know what music they've used to create it.
2) You're watching a YouTube video and want to identify the background music.
3)  While watching a show on TV you'd like to know the name of the music that is playing.
4)  You're listening to music on your headphones and want to identify what is playing.

Who can use it? Shazam can be used on multiple devices - iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Macs and Apple Watches.  Android users have already been able to use some of these features for a couple of years.

Shazam can be accessed through the Control Panel on your Apple devices OR you can even just ask Siri to identify the music. ("Siri, what song is playing?")

If this is something you're interested in using or learning more about, Apple has an excellent "how-to" article - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210331

OR, maybe you would rather watch a quick how-to video that demonstrates the process - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhVHADLe4Ps  

Today is going to be way too nice to stay inside and spend time with your technology, but maybe you can use this tip while you are listening to music or a podcast during your walk?  Make it a great Tech Tip Tuesday whatever you choose to do!

Verify the safety of a link before clicking

Clicking a link for a website you've never heard of is NEVER recommended. Period.  Although a very small percentage of websites are "bad", when you consider there are billions of websites online that translates to LOTS of questionable/bad pages.  

However, I've been helping people with technology long enough to know that the temptation to check out a new product or sensational news provides just too much temptation to resist clicking on the link.  If you are one of these people, please consider at least checking out the URL (web address) for the website before actually clicking on the link; this could save you hours of time trying to clean up a "mess" later.  

How can you check on the safety of a link before clicking? 

1. Select/highlight the URL (link)
   
2. Copy the URL (On a PC - right-click; on a Mac - Command + C)
   
3. Go to this website: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/url 
4. In the Search or Scan a URL box, paste the URL (On a PC - right-click; on a Mac - Command + V)
   
5.  Click on the Magnifying Glass on the right side of the Search box

VirusTotal will then check the link with some of the most popular virus, malware and reputation checking tools on the web.  If most of the scans come back "clean" then you can feel safe in visiting that website.  If multiple warnings appear that the website may be a phishing site or contain malware, DO NOT visit or use that website. Period.

I usually am contacted AFTER someone has clicked a questionable link and it takes time to work through the problems.  Do yourself a favor today by bookmarking the Virus Total website so you will have it when you need it.  :-)

Have a terrific Tech Tuesday and enjoy this unseasonably nice weather - at least in Emporia.  We'll try to send it to those of you living farther north or towards the East coast!

No power? External power charger to the rescue

Did you experience any power outages yesterday?  We knew our family in Texas was experiencing these, but we hadn't even thought about it for here until......around 1 PM the power went out.  Peanut butter and jelly came to the rescue for lunch, working on our puzzle answered the problem of "what can we do without internet and TV or being able to continue doing our laundry."  

As we processed what a power outage meant, we realized our only "lifelines" to the outside world were our smartphones.  Yikes!  Mine was only half-charged; would it last for the entire power outage?  I then remembered the external portable chargers we have (primarily purchased for when we are traveling....which hasn't happened in almost a year!) 

So, I dug my charger out of the bottom of the drawer aware that it had not been charged for a long time.  What a pleasant surprise!  It was still fully charged and ready to supply power to my phone, if needed.

A portable charger may not be used very often but yesterday it provided great relief knowing it would provide several full charges to my phone, if needed.  An external charger can also charge tablets and computers but with the internet down, those devices were pretty useless.

If you are unfamiliar with how external chargers work:  A portable charger is plugged into the wall to receive its charge.  Your smartphone or other device can then be plugged into it anywhere/anytime to receive a charge which will probably take a couple of hours.  

I purchased our chargers a couple of years ago but they are still very adequate for our needs - and provided a great sense of relief yesterday afternoon. If you do a lot of traveling, have an older phone that doesn't keep its charge, or just appreciate the security of knowing you can always plug in your device to charge it, then you might want to consider purchasing an external charger.  This is the one I have and I am still very satisfied with it, but there are newer (faster, more expensive) charging units available.  I strongly recommend the Anker brand; I've never been disappointed by any of their products.

What will today bring?  After an overnight low of -17, I think we are on our way to a high of 11 degrees!  We haven't had any power outages since yesterday afternoon but are ready with our flashlights and our external chargers!  If you have an external charger you may want to get it out and make sure it is charged.  If you don't have one, maybe you want to use this day to do some online shopping!  

Stay warm, stay safe, and stay inside! 

Update your browsers!

In the past week I've received two different notifications that the Google Chrome browser on my laptop computer needed to be updated.  The updates installed very quickly.  I thought I had turned on automatic updates but when I checked, this feature had not been enabled.

You want to make sure to always install browser updates when they become available because they usually contain security updates that will help protect your online activity.

How do you know if your browser software is up-to-date and if that is happening automatically?  Normally updates install in the background but if you haven't closed your browser recently there may be updates to install.  How do you do that?
Click this link to view instructions for updating Chrome on desktop/laptop computers as well as mobile devices.
If you are using Safari on a Mac, click this link for instructions.
On an iPhone/iPad the software will automatically update if Automatic Updates is turned on.  You can check in the App Store to see if the app is up-to-date.

Check this out this morning while you are staying inside where it is cozy and warm. If you have to venture out, be safe and dress warmly on his terrifically cold Tuesday morning!  We'll hope for warmer temperatures next week. :-/