Wednesday 12th December 2018
Google Backup and Sync
Linda was concerned that a process called "googledrivesync" was using quite a bit of CPU time (as shown in Task Manager) on her PC. This is, I believe, part of "Backup and Sync from Google". This app will backup your photos or other files to Google Drive. As Linda was not using this app, I suggested she go to Start, Settings, Apps and locate Backup and Sync from Google, click on it and select Uninstall. The app can easily be downloaded and re-installed at a later date, if required, by going to:-
Google+
Arthur asked about Google+ (aka Google Plus). Google+ is a little-used social media site (https://plus.google.com/) which allows you to post and share photos, comments, etc. in a similar way to Facebook. Google have announced that the service will be shut down in April 2019.
Google Photos - Free Up Space
Tony asked about deleting photos from his phone. If you simply select a photo in the Google Photos app and delete it, this will remove it from the phone and from Google Drive. If you want to make some space on your phone, you can use the Free Up Space function. To do this, open the Google Photos app on your phone, tap the 3-bar symbol and then select Free Up Space. A box will then pop up telling you how many items will be removed and how much storage space will be freed up. This will remove photos from your device that have been safely backup to the Google cloud. Tap the Free up x.xx GB button to proceed. The copies on Google Drive will be retained and can be viewed at any time.
Remember, the big advantage of using Google Photos to store your photos in the cloud is that this does not count towards your Google Drive limit (of 15 GB normally), provided you have set "high quality" rather than "original" in the Settings of the app (tap the 3-bars, Settings, Backup & Sync, Upload size to see this).
Using Labels
Allan asked about using labels in Word or LibreOffice. You can download a template to match the size of labels your are using. You will usually find the Avery template number on the pack of labels - even if they are not Avery branded labels (e.g. Rymans). You can download the template form the Avery web site at:-
https://www.avery.co.uk/software/templates-microsoft-word
Having downloaded the file, you can open this in Word or LibreOffice Writer and then save it as a template.
To create labels for your Christmas cards, use the template to enter all the names and address into one document. You can do a similar thing for birthdays/anniversaries - create a document based on the template with the names and addresses of all the people you send cards to throughout the year - then just print this once a year and use each label as the events crop up.
If you are just doing a single business letter, I recommend using a window envelope rather than a label. I have created a letterhead for this purpose with a space for the recipients address and a small dash in the margin as a fold mark so the address lines up with the window in the envelope.
Spam Email
Brian raised the issued of a suspicious email he had received. You may receive an email which appears to be from someone you know, but on closer inspection, their email address is incorrect. This arises when a contact list is 'harvested' from someone and the spammer then uses one name as a fake 'from' and sends emails to the rest of the list. Beware of this sort of fake email and do not click on any links or open any attachments within it.
VPN
Brian raised the uses of VPNs. VPNs are Virtual Private Networks and can be used to increase your privacy or disguise your location. You can read more about this in my IT Security - In-Depth Guide which you can find at bit.ly/CE-ITSecurity (page 10).
TunnelBear is a VPN service which offers 500MB of free data usage per month, which is enough for occasional use. You can download the TunnelBear app on your phone or tablet from the app store, create an account and then the app allows you to turn the VPN service on or off. You can also select the country at the other end of the 'tunnel', i.e. where you will appear to be.
Contactless Payments
We had some discussion on contactless payment cards. There is a risk that information could be read from your contactless card while it is in your pocket or bag by someone with a reading device. This process is called skimming and would require the skimming device to be very close (within a few inches) of your card. Placing your card in a metallic container can prevent this skimming process. Wallets with an in-built metallic layer are available for this purpose.
You can also use your phone to make contactless payments using Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. This requires the appropriate app to be installed on your phone. You then add a card (or cards) to the app. The phone needs to have NFC (Near Field Communication) to do this. You can see the transactions you have made within the app on the phone. The phone stores a virtual card number, rather than the actual number of the card itself. So, if you lose your phone, you can cancel the virtual card without cancelling the original physical card.
Huawei
Linda asked about the reported security risks associated with Huawei. You can read articles about this, such as this one in the Telegraph:-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/19/huawei-security-risks-threaten-critical-uk-broadband-phone-networks/
Huawei (pronounced Wah-Way) is the second largest mobile phone maker in the world, behind Samsung, with Apple being third - see:-
https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-surpassed-apple-as-the-worlds-second-largest-smartphone-maker-2018-8?r=US&IR=T
There is little to suggest any security issues with using Huawei phones. However, Huawei also provide much of the equipment used to provide the infrastructure of the Internet. A number of western countries have expressed concerns about the security of this equipment, fearing that the Chinese government may have some control over Huawei. Again, as far as I know, there is little actual evidence to indicate there is a risk, but governments, the security services and industry has to be very cautious.
Remember, the big advantage of using Google Photos to store your photos in the cloud is that this does not count towards your Google Drive limit (of 15 GB normally), provided you have set "high quality" rather than "original" in the Settings of the app (tap the 3-bars, Settings, Backup & Sync, Upload size to see this).
Using Labels
Allan asked about using labels in Word or LibreOffice. You can download a template to match the size of labels your are using. You will usually find the Avery template number on the pack of labels - even if they are not Avery branded labels (e.g. Rymans). You can download the template form the Avery web site at:-
https://www.avery.co.uk/software/templates-microsoft-word
Having downloaded the file, you can open this in Word or LibreOffice Writer and then save it as a template.
To create labels for your Christmas cards, use the template to enter all the names and address into one document. You can do a similar thing for birthdays/anniversaries - create a document based on the template with the names and addresses of all the people you send cards to throughout the year - then just print this once a year and use each label as the events crop up.
If you are just doing a single business letter, I recommend using a window envelope rather than a label. I have created a letterhead for this purpose with a space for the recipients address and a small dash in the margin as a fold mark so the address lines up with the window in the envelope.
Spam Email
Brian raised the issued of a suspicious email he had received. You may receive an email which appears to be from someone you know, but on closer inspection, their email address is incorrect. This arises when a contact list is 'harvested' from someone and the spammer then uses one name as a fake 'from' and sends emails to the rest of the list. Beware of this sort of fake email and do not click on any links or open any attachments within it.
VPN
Brian raised the uses of VPNs. VPNs are Virtual Private Networks and can be used to increase your privacy or disguise your location. You can read more about this in my IT Security - In-Depth Guide which you can find at bit.ly/CE-ITSecurity (page 10).
TunnelBear is a VPN service which offers 500MB of free data usage per month, which is enough for occasional use. You can download the TunnelBear app on your phone or tablet from the app store, create an account and then the app allows you to turn the VPN service on or off. You can also select the country at the other end of the 'tunnel', i.e. where you will appear to be.
Contactless Payments
We had some discussion on contactless payment cards. There is a risk that information could be read from your contactless card while it is in your pocket or bag by someone with a reading device. This process is called skimming and would require the skimming device to be very close (within a few inches) of your card. Placing your card in a metallic container can prevent this skimming process. Wallets with an in-built metallic layer are available for this purpose.
You can also use your phone to make contactless payments using Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. This requires the appropriate app to be installed on your phone. You then add a card (or cards) to the app. The phone needs to have NFC (Near Field Communication) to do this. You can see the transactions you have made within the app on the phone. The phone stores a virtual card number, rather than the actual number of the card itself. So, if you lose your phone, you can cancel the virtual card without cancelling the original physical card.
Huawei
Linda asked about the reported security risks associated with Huawei. You can read articles about this, such as this one in the Telegraph:-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/19/huawei-security-risks-threaten-critical-uk-broadband-phone-networks/
Huawei (pronounced Wah-Way) is the second largest mobile phone maker in the world, behind Samsung, with Apple being third - see:-
https://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-surpassed-apple-as-the-worlds-second-largest-smartphone-maker-2018-8?r=US&IR=T
There is little to suggest any security issues with using Huawei phones. However, Huawei also provide much of the equipment used to provide the infrastructure of the Internet. A number of western countries have expressed concerns about the security of this equipment, fearing that the Chinese government may have some control over Huawei. Again, as far as I know, there is little actual evidence to indicate there is a risk, but governments, the security services and industry has to be very cautious.
Have I Been Pwned (HIPB)?
The
slang word pwn is derived from a
mis-typing of own and means roughly
the same. It is pronounced pone. Pwn
implies that you have been completely taken over or hacked.
With
lots of data breaches across a range of companies over the last few years, you
might wonder if your email address is amongst that stolen data. Australian security
expert, Troy Hunt, has created a web site which collects information on theses
data breaches. You can enter your email address into Troy’s site and it will
tell you if your address was included in any of the known breaches. Some of
these stolen email address will also have been listed on publicly available
sites used by hackers to obtain lists of email addresses. The site will also
tell you if your email address appears on any of these public lists (these are
indicated as ‘pasted’). You can find the site at:-
The
HIPB site also allows you to search for your passwords to see if they have been
seen in any of the data breaches - just click on Passwords at the top of the page. The site stores the passwords in encrypted
form and does not associate them with any email addresses.
What
should you do if your email address is found by HIPB? If you haven’t recently
changed your password, you probably should. You could also consider turning on
2-Factor Authentication (2FA) if that is available for the particular account.
Firefox Partners with
HaveIBeenPwned.com
Mozilla’s
web browser Firefox is partnering with HIPB to create Firefox Monitor. This feature will be released as part of
Firefox in due course. Read more at:-
At
the moment, you can go to Firefox Monitor at:-
Here,
you can access some of the same facilities as you can at the HIPB site, e.g.
checking if your email address has been pwned.
1Password Partners with
HaveIBeenPwned.com
1Password is an
online password manager. It has a
feature called Watchtower which using the HIPB database of breached emails and
passwords and reports if your email addresses or passwords have been pwned.
Next Session
Wed
9th January 2019 1:30 to 3:30pm.
