{"id":1706,"date":"2022-09-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2022-09-02T08:42:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T12:42:53","slug":"top-tips-for-staying-secure-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1706","title":{"rendered":"Top Tips for staying secure online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" data-attachment-id=\"1707\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?attachment_id=1707\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?fit=1170%2C780&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1170,780\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?fit=474%2C316&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?resize=474%2C316&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?resize=150%2C100&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?w=1170&amp;ssl=1 1170w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image.png?w=948&amp;ssl=1 948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><figcaption>Top tips for staying secure online, borrowed from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While you can find a TON of articles explaining how to stay safe online, many are either too wordy, take too long to get to the point, or are annoying in other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, borrowed from <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online<\/a>, are some pretty easily do-able things you can do to stay safe online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\/use-a-strong-and-separate-password-for-email\" target=\"_blank\">Use a strong AND SEPARATE password for your email<\/a><ul><li>After all, you probably stash a LOT of personal information in your mailboxes. Don&#8217;t reuse that password &#8211; that is just asking for trouble.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\/use-a-strong-and-separate-password-for-email\" target=\"_blank\">Install the latest app updates and software<\/a><ul><li>Yes, there are a LOT of them, and they are constant [especially if you use a lot of software]. But update anyway &#8211; MDS Tech suggests starting updates before you go to sleep, so you are not aware of how long it takes.<\/li><li>Seriously &#8211; update. You&#8217;ll save headaches!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\/activate-2-step-verification-on-your-email\" target=\"_blank\">Turn on MFA\/2FA<\/a> &#8211; i.e. that thing where you get a text with a code when trying to login to an account. <ul><li>Turn that on where you can &#8211; no, it is not perfect, but it is a bit like adding another lock on the door so the &#8220;bad guys&#8221; can&#8217;t get in.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\/password-managers\" target=\"_blank\">Use Password Managers<\/a><ul><li>This way you can have all of your passwords stored in one [VERY secure] place&#8230;. but make sure you have that one password stashed somewhere safe.  There are lots of options out there.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\/always-back-up-your-most-important-data\" target=\"_blank\">Back up your data<\/a><ul><li>Your computer WILL die [just like your car or refrigerator]. It is inevitable [see Murphy&#8217;s Law] that it will happen at the worst possible time. SO make sure you have backups of your data.<\/li><li>The hard part is figuring out how &#8211; and that is well beyond the scope of this article. Do a web search &#8211; something like &#8216;how backup [your operating system]&#8221;. For example &#8211; &#8220;how backup mac&#8221;.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online\/three-random-words\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Three Random Words<\/a><ul><li>This is some advice that has changed over the years. Using three random words is FAR more secure than using just a few letters or numbers, and MUCH harder to guess. Some examples of decent passwords:<ul><li>threerandomvehicles<\/li><li>FredGeorgeLIzrds [note the deliberate misspelling!]<\/li><li>IhaveNOidea!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Some website will require numbers, special characters like a period or an exclamation point, etc. The common theme here is to mix up type [upper case, lower case, number, characters] and make it  as long as practical. 12 characters is far more secure than 8. 24 characters might be too aggravating to type in!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Britain&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nation Cyber Security Centre<\/a> for posting the article serving as the source for this posting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While you can find a TON of articles explaining how to stay safe online, many are either too wordy, take too long to get to the point, or are annoying in other ways. Here, borrowed from https:\/\/www.ncsc.gov.uk\/collection\/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online, are some pretty easily do-able things you can do to stay safe online. Use a strong AND SEPARATE &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1706\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Top Tips for staying secure online<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[105,111,30],"tags":[602,47,40,603,433,601,432,600],"class_list":["post-1706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essentials","category-make-tech-easier","category-more","tag-2fa","tag-backup","tag-email","tag-mfa","tag-online","tag-password","tag-safe","tag-stay"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42ogX-rw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1170,"url":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1170","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":0},"title":"Staying Safe online","author":"Tom Rule","date":"04\/12\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There is an online security researcher named Krebs that published 3 basic rules for online safety. These still make a lot of sense: If you didn't go looking for it, don't install it!If you installed it, UPDATE it!If you no longer need it, REMOVE it! The original article is at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Essentials&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Essentials","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?cat=105"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1598,"url":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1598","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":1},"title":"Choose Your Own CyberSecurity Adventure","author":"Tom Rule","date":"01\/19\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"From InfoSec Are you interested in computers and technology? Do you like to play games? Learn some tricks and tips that computer professionals use to stay safe online. For Free. CLICK HERE.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;More&quot;","block_context":{"text":"More","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image.png?fit=1034%2C567&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image.png?fit=1034%2C567&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image.png?fit=1034%2C567&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/image.png?fit=1034%2C567&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2082,"url":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=2082","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":2},"title":"How Long Will It Take to Crack Your Password?","author":"tech","date":"02\/20\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Short answer: it depends on how complex your password is. Weak passwords can be cracked in seconds, while strong ones can take years. The below information is taken from https:\/\/www.techrepublic.com\/article\/time-to-crack-your-password-guide\/ In their 2024 Hive Systems Password Table report, Hive found that a complex, eight-character password that contains numbers, symbols, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Essentials&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Essentials","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?cat=105"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1783,"url":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1783","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":3},"title":"Are you smart enough to not be Phished? 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Take the Quiz, and see if you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;More&quot;","block_context":{"text":"More","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tech.mountdesales.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1275,"url":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=1275","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":4},"title":"11 best Windows 10 tricks","author":"Tom Rule","date":"02\/03\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The original article is at https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/how-to\/11-best-hidden-windows-10-tricks-to-know-now-that-youve-upgraded-from-windows-7\/ Minimize all the Windows except the active one Click the titlebar of the window you want to stay open. Then hold the mouse button down and move the mouse left and right quickly. After a couple of quick shakes the OTHER windows will all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"ads\"","block_context":{"text":"ads","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?tag=ads"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?p=164","url_meta":{"origin":1706,"position":5},"title":"iPad notes &#8211; 12\/18\/13","author":"Tom Rule","date":"01\/07\/2014","format":"video","excerpt":"The announcement video that didn't quite playback well. Has a couple of tips and notes on taking care of your iPad. CLICK HERE to watch on youtube if you don't see it below.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;iPads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"iPads","link":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/muPONU2q0yE\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1708,"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1706\/revisions\/1708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tech.mountdesales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}