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Google Enables '2-Step Verification' as Default
by John Lister on October, 19 2021 at 01:10PM EDT
Google is switching on two-factor authentication by default for 150 million users. It's also making it mandatory for two million people who upload videos to YouTube. The system means no longer relying on passwords as the only way to control access ... to account. Instead it adds a second method such as getting a security code on a particular phone. Two-Factor versus "Two-Step" Verification Google calls the concept two-step verification, though that doesn't really describe it properly. The more commonly used "two factor" term refers to the idea of combining different types of ... (view more)
Islamic State Supporters Hijack Twitter Accounts
The way Twitter handles 'dormant' accounts has been hijacked to promote terrorist material, according to a report. It's all to do with the way Twitter associates its accounts with email addresses. The report comes from TechCrunch and follows a ... sudden upsurge in posts that don't seem connected to the account in question, but instead appear to come from members or supporters of Islamic State. (Source: techcrunch.com ) The problem appears to stem from the fact that Twitter doesn't delete accounts even if they aren't regularly used and may even have been abandoned by their original users. ... (view more)
Yahoo Admits: All 3 Billion Email Addresses Hacked
by John Lister on October, 5 2017 at 12:10PM EDT
Yahoo has admitted that a hacking incident in 2013 affected three billion user accounts. That's three times more than it originally disclosed and means every account was affected. The incident was one of two Yahoo hacks revealed last year. The ... first, announced in September, involved 500,000 accounts being hacked in 2014 . The second, announced in December, was said to have involved a hack of a billion accounts in 2013 . It's the 2013 attack that Yahoo now says it believes "all Yahoo user accounts were affected." It's keen to stress that it only recently discovered that the number was bigger ... (view more)
700 Million Email Accounts Hijacked by Spammers
by John Lister on August, 31 2017 at 10:08AM EDT
More than 700 million email addresses and passwords have been leaked online. While many are bogus, enough appear to be genuine that security experts have advised users to change their email passwords. The collection of account details does not ... appear to have been used for identity theft or other fraud. Instead, the collection has been marketed as a way to send spam messages. The idea is that spammers can login to the compromised accounts in order to send their unsolicited emails. This effectively flies under the spam radar, as most spam comes from IP addresses without any reputation. In this ... (view more)
How to Fix: Hide User Accounts on Windows 7, 8, 10 Login Screen
by Dennis Faas on May, 29 2017 at 01:05PM EDT
Infopackets Reader Sam R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows 10 and I have installed RDP Wrapper (per your previous article). This allows more than one person to use the same Windows computer via remote desktop - this is very convenient if ... you have a 'server' computer and want to use it for multiple purposes. I have a question: I would like to be able to hide the remote desktop user accounts I want to use on the server from being displayed on the Windows 10 login screen. Do you know how I can do this? " My response: It is possible to hide user accounts from the Windows 7, 8 and 10 ... (view more)
Twitter, Facebook Users: Review Account Settings
by John Lister on March, 16 2017 at 11:03AM EDT
A major "hack" of prominent Twitter accounts has raised awareness of a big security loophole. The problem isn't with Twitter itself, but rather third party tools. This morning several thousand accounts belonging to public figures and major ... organizations and businesses posted identical messages. The tweets included a swastika symbol and references to Nazi views in Germany and the Netherlands and are thought to relate to an ongoing political spat between the Netherlands and Turkey. (Source: bostonglobe.com ) There's never a good time for accounts to be hijacked in such a way, ... (view more)
New Yahoo Breach Affects 1 Billion Accounts
by John Lister on December, 22 2016 at 12:12PM EST
Stolen Yahoo account details could be changing hands for as little as three-hundredths of a cent according to security researchers. It follows a hack of more than a billion accounts. It's the second Yahoo breach reported this year. Back in September ... the news broke that details of more than 500,000 accounts had been accessed by hackers in 2014. Now Yahoo has confirmed a separate attack in 2013 involved the theft of data for more than a billion accounts, something security experts believe makes it a record breach. It's suggested that the stolen data includes email addresses and passwords, ... (view more)
How to Fix: Sort and Archive Emails with Thunderbird Locally (or Remote)
by Dennis Faas on December, 19 2016 at 01:12PM EST
This article will explain how to keep your email inbox clean, and how to sort and store your email messages locally (or by remote) using Mozilla Thunderbird. This article is the 6th article in a series of articles I've recently written on ... Thunderbird, including: How to Fix: Thunderbird: One Inbox, Multiple Accounts How to Fix: Minimize Thunderbird to Tray Bar (Not Task Bar) How to Fix: Thunderbird Paragraph Mode (Press Enter Twice) How to Fix: Disable Thunderbird Popup Notifications How to Fix: Disable Thunderbird Attachment Reminder How to Fix: Sort and Archive Emails with Thunderbird ... (view more)
How to Fix: Thunderbird: One Inbox, Multiple Accounts
Infopackets Reader Julia S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your articles on Thunderbird. I have a question! I have multiple email accounts that I use with Thunderbird; one issue I find is that it's difficult to figure out which inbox has my new ... emails. Some accounts are set up with POP3, others with IMAP. The IMAP accounts have their own 'Inbox', 'Sent', 'Deleted items', etc, whereas the POP3 emails end up in my 'Local Inbox'. Is there a plug-in or a way to configure Thunderbird so everything goes into one single inbox? It would make my life so much easier! " My response: I wondered the ... (view more)