Posted July 11, 2007, in Air Force, Privacy, Security, Technology by Erik J. Heels (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/791.html)
How to protect against identity theft.
In the summer of 2006, an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took a laptop home. The laptop contained social security numbers and other personal details for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses. The laptop was stolen. The laptop was later recovered, and the VA reported that the FBI was “highly confident”… [read full post]
Posted July 06, 2007, in Open Source, Security, Technology by Erik J. Heels (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/786.html)
Use RealVNC 4.0 or RealVNC 4.1.2 instead.
A security flaw in RealVNC 4.1.1 allows remote users to remote-control your machine without a password. The safe versions of the RealVNC server are versions 4.0 and 4.1.2.
This is last summer’s news. So it’s not really new. But I thought I’d add it since the following article is so popular:… [read full post]
If you change one thing, then you might break ten other things.
I like WordPress. But I don’t love it. I liked Movable Type. Not as much as I like WordPress, but Movable Type has one thing going for it that WordPress lacks: a company. If something broke in Movable Type, I could (theoretically) get a solution from SixApart, the company behind… [read full post]
Posted June 05, 2007, in Business, Privacy, Security, Technology, Worst Practices by Erik J. Heels (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/779.html)
Mozy sounded too good to be true (and appears to be).
I have been hunting for a viable cross-platform replacement for Connected.com’s online backup (which is available only for PCs). Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to like about Connected.com. The UI is great, automated backup and restore (with versioning) just works, and you can encrypt your data with… [read full post]
Secure file transfer between Windows Cygwin server and Macintosh Fugu SFTP client.
I have previously discussed how to SCP with a Windows WinSCP client to a Windows Cygwin SSH server, and that article is relevant for the server side of the equation.
But what if you want to use a Macintosh, OS X 10.4 (Tiger), with Fugu as your… [read full post]
Blockbuster reminds me why I bought a TiVo.
As I mentioned recently, Verizon FiOS TV spoiled my Valentine’s Day movie night when the video-on-demand (VOD) movie I was watching died without explanation. Verizon’s subsequent inept technical service and customer service caused my wife and and I to reconsider our options for our next movie night.
So, on Saturday, my wife… [read full post]
If You Get A Call From PayPal, Hang Up.
I just got a very odd phone call from PayPal. They wanted to “verify” some activity on my account. (Clock Tower Law Group allows its clients to pay by PayPal as well as by credit card.) I initially suspected that the call might be fraudulent. In fact, if you are called by someone… [read full post]
Use a read-fire-aim approach to technology.
By Erik J. Heels
First published 1/2/2007; Law Practice magazine, “nothing.but.net” column; American Bar Association
My friend Paul and I were recently discussing the security and privacy risks associated with using web services such as social networking and web-based email. I commented that I was shocked at how willing some people are -… [read full post]
Posted December 20, 2006, in Business, Security, Technology by Erik J. Heels (permalink: http://www.erikjheels.com/655.html)
A stolen debit card number is worse than a stolen credit card number.
Four times this year somebody in my law firm has had their credit card number stolen. The problem is so bad, and so frequent, that we have a written procedure for what to do when it happens. Our credit card company… [read full post]
I’ve been thinking about it for months, but today’s announcement from SixApart sealed the deal. [read full post]
