Archive for July, 2015

Steps Towards Online Identity Safety

Posted by centexitguy in Security on July 29, 2015

July 29, 2015

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing methods used by hackers to carry out criminal activities. It is an attempt to gain unauthorized access to the personal information of internet users, such as email ids, passwords, credit card details, social security numbers etc. With internet being a crucial part of our everyday lives, the risk for identity theft has also increased manifold. Therefore, it is important that you are aware of the dos and don’ts for keeping your information secure over the internet.

Read on to know some of the essential steps that you must follow to ensure online identity safety:

  • Create Strong Passwords: Choosing small and easy passwords is like providing hackers the key to your virtual world. These are the most common ways crimes like identify theft are carried out. In order to avoid being a victim of these attacks, you should create passwords that are lengthy, unique and hard to crack. A good password comprises minimum 8 characters with a combination of numbers, alphabets and symbols. You can also use a two-factor authentication method to prevent unauthorized access to your online accounts.
  • Use Multiple Email Accounts: Using different email accounts for important and spam emails can help to minimize the risk of hacking attacks. For instance, you can create a separate email id for work related conversations, another for personal emails and yet another to be used for unsecure or trivial websites. Thus, spam emails will no longer pose a threat to your sensitive information.
  • Ignore Emails From Unknown Senders: If you receive an email from an unknown sender, you must not open or download its attachments. These could be malware attempting to infect your system and steal important data. You should also be cautious of emails asking you to enter your personal information or verify password. If you receive an email claiming to be from a bank or any reputed business, make sure you validate its legitimacy by directly contacting the company.
  • Ensure Secure Network: Before entering your credit card details for internet banking or other ecommerce transactions, look for the padlock symbol in your browser’s address bar. Additionally, the URL of the website should begin with ‘https’ instead of ‘http’. This ensures that the connection is secure and the information you enter will be properly encrypted.
  • Ignore Pop-Ups: Pop-ups are also a common method of getting users to download malware into their devices. Advertizements that claim to offer a prize or reward usually contain bugs programmed to damage your system, gather important data or simply manipulate stored information.

For more online identity safety tips, feel free to contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.

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Website Navigation Mistakes You Should Avoid

Posted by centexitguy in Website Design on July 24, 2015

July 24, 2015

Website navigation plays a significant role in the success of your online business. It should be clear and intuitive with the ultimate goal of taking users to the desired page in the shortest possible time. If users are not able to find what they want, they might get exasperated and leave the website, subsequently affecting all your internet marketing efforts.

Given here are some of the common mistakes you should avoid while finalizing your website’s navigation:

  • Being Too Creative: When users visit your website, they usually expect the navigation menu to be present either horizontally on the top or vertically across the side bar. Therefore, you should avoid being too creative with the site’s navigation and leaving the visitors confused. Placing your navigation menu in non-standard places could result in higher bounce rate and lower conversions.
  • Not Targeting The Goal: The navigation should always represent the ultimate goal that you want to achieve through your website. If relevant web pages are not easily accessible, your visitors might leave the site. For instance, if you own a restaurant, your goal would be to get more reservations. Including a separate label to ‘Make A Reservation’ will provide an added convenience to the users for booking a table.
  • Providing Too Many Choices: When it comes to designing navigation, most companies try to include all their products or services into the main menu. Although this may seem to be a good idea, being overwhelmed with too many options may leave the users confused and unable to make a decision about which one to choose. To avoid this, try to keep your navigation as simple and clutter free as possible.
  • Incompatible Sizing: Website navigation is often designed for large screen computers. However, you must remember that such a menu may not aptly fit the screens of mobile devices. This can have a negative effect on visitor‘s experience and limit the site’s usability. You should make sure that your site is responsive so that the navigation can be restructured according to different screen sizes.
  • Using Non-Descriptive Text: Your navigation labels should be able to direct users to the right page. For instance, if you are an online apparel seller, using a generic term like ‘Products’ instead of ‘Men’s Denims’ can make it difficult for users to find what they want. Your focus should be on using descriptive terms that can allow people to view the desired product through minimum clicks.

We, at Centex Technologies, provide web design solutions to the businesses in Central Texas. For more information, you can call us at (855) 375 – 9654.

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Wi-Fi Password Sharing Feature In Windows 10 Raises Security Concerns

Posted by centexitguy in Security on July 16, 2015

July 16, 2015

With Microsoft taking its last leap with the Windows 10, most tech professionals are looking forward to the new competences added to this operating system. One such feature, that has managed to garner more controversies than commendations, is the ‘Wi-Fi Sense’. Essentially, it is a mode of sharing network information among users. It is designed to allow an easy and quick connection to in-range password protected wireless hotspots within friends. Though Microsoft initially rolled out this Wi-Fi password sharing feature in Windows Phone 8.1, it did not gain much popularity due to its limited user base.

How Does Wi-Fi-Sense Work?

Wi-Fi Sense enables users to share network connection with their Facebook, Skype and Outlook contacts. Working at the back-end, this feature agrees to Wi-Fi terms and conditions, shares log-in credentials as well as connects your friends whenever they are in-range of the network that you want to share. Hence, if any of your friends tries to access your internet connection, Wi-Fi Sense will evaluate his actions and provide access spontaneously, without making the password visible to him. Other users, who are in your contact list and have Windows 10 on their device, will also have their network details shared with you, provided they have enabled Wi-Fi Sense.

Security Risks With Wi-Fi Sense

According to Microsoft’s official sources, the Wi-Fi password is shared in an encrypted form through the company’s internal servers. The user is granted access only to internet connection and not to the files or data stored in your system. However, even the basic sharing of password may compromise the security of your network and make it vulnerable to various hacking attacks. The idea of sharing internet connection can be great for family and friends, but not for corporate settings. Sharing passwords with all your Facebook, Outlook and Skype contacts could also mean inadvertently providing your network information to people whom you barely know.

The best way to safeguard your network from these privacy risks is by taking a few preventive measures. As the feature is likely to be enabled by default in Windows 10 PCs and laptops, make sure you turn it off. However, it is a not a perfect solution for business firms that encourage bring your own device (BYOD) culture. Another option to keep your network out of Wi-Fi Sense is to add the phrase “_optout” to its name. For instance, if your internet connection is named “mynetwork”, you must change it to “mynetwork_optout”.

Considering the security concerns emerging around Wi-Fi Sense, it is recommended that you use 802.1X authentication or implement stricter access controls to your network connection.

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Beware Of Fraudulent Companies Claiming To Clean Up Your Virus Infected PC

Posted by centexitguy in Security on July 9, 2015

July 9, 2015

Every day, a lot of web users receive fake calls/ emails from scammers posing to be IT support technicians offering help to clean up their computer issues. They claim themselves to be from some reputed software companies and persuade people to perform certain tasks to remove virus from their PC. According to a recently released report by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), these types of phone/ email scams have become the most common way for hackers to access all the personal information stored on the target computer.

How The Scam Works?

A user typically gets a call from people asserting to be from a tech support firm. The callers already gather the target user’s name, address, operating system and version of Windows to convince them about the legitimacy of the call. They may tell the user that they have detected certain virus on the computer that needs to be fixed and for which they need to pay a certain fee. When this occurs, the hackers are able to gain access to the credit card details of the user. They may also install certain malware and malicious software on the system which may require additional expenses to be removed. These phone scams may include the following:

  • The cybercriminals may ask the user to download a remote access service to grant them the right to use the computer. This allows them to take complete charge of the target PC.
  • The user is made to install certain anti-virus software, sold as the genuine version. In contrast, it is simply a trail or forged version, leaving the user’s computer vulnerable to major security threats.
  • Once they have unrestrained access to the system, it can be easily infected with malware. As the targeted system has a non-functioning anti-virus and vulnerable OS, it would not be able to detect or remove the Trojan.

Tips To Avoid Phone Scams

  • Never grant access to your computer to unknown people.
  • Do not depend on caller ID to validate any phone call. Identities on these types of software can be easily hoaxed.
  • Do not provide details about your credit card, bank account or other personal information to any unknown caller.
  • Note down the caller’s information and report it to your local cyber-crime branch.
  • Change any passwords that you have shared with anybody.
  • Always install and regularly update authentic anti-virus software as well as Windows version.

In case you receive any such phone calls, make sure you do not provide them any information and contact the helpline number of your service provider for assistance.

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