How to Protect Your Instagram Account from Being Hacked?

As Instagram continues to grow, it becomes more essential to ensure that you’re taking necessary precautions to keep your account safe and secure. Recently, millions of Instagram influencers contact data got scraped and exposed. There were over 49 million records found on the database before it was discovered and reported.

Keep Your Main Email Account Secure

Think about it; the moment someone gains access to your email account is the moment they gain access to all your other accounts as well. That’s why email service providers recommend changing your email account password every now and then and activate “two-step verification” just to be on the safe side.

Choose a Strong Password

You’ll notice when signing up for an Instagram account (or any online account for that matter) that it’s always recommended to choose a strong password. A combination of uppercase and lower case letters, as well as characters and numbers, are always a good start because they’re difficult to figure out and hard to break using bruteforce hacking tools. Also, be sure to avoid dictionary words, because even clever dictionary words are easy to figure out. It’s also best to avoid things like your pet’s name, your middle name or phone number, as that information can be easily found.

Use Two-Factor Authentication

Instagram has a useful feature called Two-Factor Authentication that you can enable for enhanced security. This means every time someone tries to use your credentials to log in from an unknown device, Instagram will send a verification code to your mobile number to authenticate the login attempt. That’s when you’ll know that someone is trying to hack into your account. This is a great way to deter hackers from using your Instagram account and changing your credentials. Since the hacker cannot remotely gain access to your phone’s private messages, he/she won’t be able to go through with the hacking process.

Keep Different Passwords for Different Accounts

Try to come up with different passwords for all your online accounts. This means you’ll need a different password for your Instagram account, email address, Facebook account etc. That way, even if a hacker figures out the password to one of your accounts, they won’t be able to access your information on other platforms.

Keep Your Personal Information Private

Another easy way to keep Instagram account safe from hackers is to avoid sharing personal information on the platform. This is especially important if your password is based on something personal like your date of birth or home address. Besides, it’s a general rule of thumb to never share anything overly personal on social media as that can open you up to being stalked or worse!

Nevertheless, you should also refrain from posting provocative content, like photos that show a lot of violence or nudity. And be sure to avoid sharing other people’s private information as well.

Only Use Authorized Third-Party Apps

Another helpful tip to keeping your Instagram account safe is to not give access to dodgy third-party apps that may threaten your account security. In fact, you should allow access to third-party apps only when it’s necessary and not just for entertainment or fun.

Don’t Use a Shared Device

This one’s a no-brainer; whenever you use a public or shared computer, make sure to log out of your Instagram account before you even move away from the device. Also, a pop-up saying “remember me” will appear after you’ve entered your credentials; don’t click on it.

Don’t Follow Every Instagram Account Out There

Before you follow an account on Instagram, make sure to put it through a strict vetting process. Accepting dodgy accounts may lead you to hackers who’ll share infected links with you in order to get access to your personal information.

Don’t Accept Suspicious Followers

Setting your Instagram page to “private” is a great way to protect your safety by vetting everyone who requests to follow you. Even if.......
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Update WhatsApp Immediately to avoid Spyware Installation!!!

A vulnerability discovered in Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app is being exploited to inject commercial spyware onto Android and iOS phones by simply calling the target. The spyware was developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group. Attackers could transmit the malicious code to a target’s device by calling the user and infecting the call whether the recipient answered the call or not. Logs of the incoming calls were often erased

Once installed, the spyware can turn on a phone’s camera and mic, scan emails and messages, and collect the user’s location data. WhatsApp is urging its 1.5 billion global users to update the app immediately to close the security hole.

WhatsApp said that the vulnerability was discovered this month, and that the company quickly addressed the problem within its own infrastructure. An update to the app was published Monday.

Though that back-end fix alone should have patched the vulnerability, the company is still recommending that users update WhatsApp to the following latest versions:

• WhatsApp for Android: v2.19.134
• WhatsApp Business for Android: v2.19.44
• WhatsApp for iOS: v2.19.51
• WhatsApp Business for iOS: v2.19.51
• WhatsApp for Windows Phone: v2.18.348
• WhatsApp for Tizen: v2.18.15.

The hack targeted all commonly used smartphone operating systems, including Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Samsung’s Tizen.

NSO limits sales of its spyware, Pegasus, to state intelligence agencies. The spyware’s capabilities are near absolute. Once installed on a phone, the software can extract all of the data that’s already on the device (text messages, contacts, GPS location, email, browser history, etc) in addition to creating new data by using the phone’s microphone and camera to record the user’s surroundings and ambient sounds, according to a 2016 report by the New York Times.

WhatsApp has about 1.5bn users around the world. The messaging app uses end-to-end encryption, making it popular and secure for activists and dissidents. The Pegasus spyware does not affect or involve the app’s encryption.

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Know If Your WhatsApp Is Hacked!!!

WhatsApp Messenger is the most popular messaging app for both Smartphone and PC. Millions of users are using this app daily for online conversations. Though you cannot use same WhatsApp number in two devices at the same instance. But anyone can spy on your WhatsApp in multiple ways. Here are couple of commonly used methods and steps to avoid being a victim.

Method 1: WhatsApp Web

WhatsApp web is a feature that helps you to access your WhatsApp account on your computer. You must scan the QR code from the mobile, then you can easily access your WhatsApp account on your computer in real-time along with access in your mobile device. Using this feature, anyone who can get access to your mobile for 5seconds can easily access your WhatsApp and scan QR code and can start reading all your WhatsApp messages.

How to know if someone has access?

1. Open WhatsApp in your mobile
2. Click on Menu-Option
3. Click WhatsApp Web

If one or several computers with open session appears, then your WhatsApp is open to those on another device. It just means someone is spying on you.

You can click ‘Sign-out from all computers’ and the person will lose access to your account immediately.

Method 2: Extract Messages from Mobile Storage

If someone gets access to your device storage or backup that you had stored in your cloud-storage, they can copy your encrypted whatsapp messages and decrypt the messages, which is a rare scenario as its not so easy to decrypt which may need WhatsApp key which one can get easily only if your device is rooted.

Best way to avoid being victim of this method is to use app lock for your file manager.

Method 3: Activating Your WhatsApp account in Someone else’s Device

Another way in which someone can spy on your WhatsApp is activating your account in another device. Basically, anyone can register your WhatsApp number in another mobile and during their configuration, they recover all your chats or conversations saved in the application through file-manager. Anyone can do this by taking your cell phone, to receive the verification code that WhatsApp sends and activate it in their mobile.

If such a thing happens, WhatsApp will show “This phone could not be verified” once you open WhatsApp in your device. You can re-verify your number to regain the account access and disconnect from the other person’s device.

To avoid someone getting your whatsapp account activated in their mobile, you can use app lock for messages.

Method 4: Spy App

Spy Apps are just an application that is used to monitor Smartphone. These apps can track all your activities you are doing on your phone. These apps can track your incoming & outgoing calls, call logs, sms, gps location, browser activity, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook, Twitter, and Emails. If someone gets access to your phone and install the spy apps, they can rack your entire activity. After installation of apps, it gets hidden and you can’t see it in app-list.

The best solution not to become victim is to always keep checking Installed Apps on your phone and not to give your phone to anyone for any reason.

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How to Stop Annoying Robocalls & Spam Calls?

Mobile spam calls have been a nuisance for years, but over the last few months, there’s been a surge of them. Robocallers have upped their game by masking their spam with local, genuine-looking phone numbers. The vast majority of the time, it’s an unwelcome distraction. It’s all too easy for these scammers to wield the power of the internet and fire off countless calls with ease. And once even just a few people fall for a scam, they’ve made enough profit to cover their trivial expenses.

 Here’s how service-providers looks at things:

• Robocallers: Automated, prerecorded phone messages
• Spammers: Unwanted callers that may be calling indiscriminately to many recipients; sometimes includes callers to whom you’ve given consent to contact you
• Fraud calls: An entity likely pretending to be someone they’re not with malicious intent

Add yourself to the Do Not Call Registry

In theory, telemarketers are supposed to be honouring the National Do Not Call Registry. The Do Not Call Registry only covers sales calls. Charities, political groups, debt collectors, and surveys are still allowed to call you once you’ve signed up. Same goes for companies that you might’ve recently done business with. Unfortunately, scammers / robocallers don’t pay the DNC Registry any mind and just ignore the thing entirely.

Block individual numbers one by one

This is probably a hopeless endeavour if you’re aiming to completely eradicate robocalls, but if there’s a particular number that keeps calling, it’s fairly easy to block it forever from your iPhone or Android phone.

On Android:

• Open the Phone app
• Tap the number that just called you
• Tap "Details"
• Tap "Block number"

On iPhone:

• Open the Phone app.
• Tap the "i" icon next to the number that called you.
• Scroll down and select "Block this caller."

Protect yourself with third-party apps

There are a number of services such as Truecaller, Nomorobo, RoboKiller, Hiya, and others similar apps to prevent robocalls from ever ringing your phone. Most of them require a monthly (or annual) subscription. At their core, these services rely on a constantly updating list of robocallers, spammers, and fraudsters and use that database to stop nuisance calls. A call comes in, and the service runs it against that huge list of scam numbers. If it finds a match, the incoming call gets shut down before it reaches you

Never let the robots know you’re a real human

Tempting as might be to swear up and down at a robocaller or scammer, your best course of action is to leave them unsure as to whether they connected with an actual person. Don’t say anything. Don’t push buttons — even if the robotic voice says doing so will prevent further calls. Put no faith or trust in the robot voice. Either just let it go through to voicemail or hang up immediately if you mistakenly picked up.

Use Do Not Disturb to only allow calls from your contacts

On both Android and iOS, you can set each operating system’s Do Not Disturb mode to allow phone calls from only those people and businesses in your contacts list. This is a drastic solution to the problem of robocalls, and you’re almost certainly going to miss calls that you would’ve liked to have answered. But those calls will go through to voicemail, and then you can add that number to your contacts for the future. I’d still only recommend this option if you’re completely fed up, though, and only if you’re very good and meticulous about keeping contacts up to date.

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Login to Your Facebook Account with 3 Passwords

Did you know that you can login to your Facebook account using password in 3 different forms? Seems interesting isn’t it? Yep! Unlike any other online account which has only one password to access, Facebook lets you log in using 3 different variants of your password.

Only a few Facebook users are aware of this fact, but for maany others, this might seem a bit surprising. Facebook accepts the following forms of your password:

1. Your Original Password – myPassword
2. Password with the Case Toggled – MYpASSWORD
3. Password with the First Letter Capitalized - MyPassword

Why 3 Passwords?

This is definitely not because Facebook has a bug or a serious vulnerability. In fact, this is a feature provided by Facebook itself to make the sign-in process easier for the users.

One can login using their original password and I don’t think one asks why on this. Let’s take Password with Case Toggled case. The most common reason for the login failure is when the CAPS LOCK is ON. This is where Case Toggled variation comes in handy. That means, when the CAPS LOCK is ON the case gets reversed (toggled) for your password but Facebook will accept this as well.

In case of mobile users, it is a common for the first letter of the password to get capitalized which often leads to the login failure. So, in order to tackle this issue, Facebook will also accept the password where only the first letter is capitalized.

Thus if the CAPS LOCK is accidentally enabled or if you logging in using mobile device and your first character is CAPS, you can still login to Facebook.

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WhatsApp is Rolling out a Feature to End Spam Forever!

WhatsApp on Android has received a new update which should make it easier for users to find whether a message is self-composed or is being forwarded from another group message.

After Facebook became a place for fake news and fraudulent shared links, WhatsApp is where all the spam lies. The average user has no idea whether the things they see in a group is legit or being shared to create chaos in whichever country he or she lives. While introducing a new tag that has the quote “forward message” on top of it may not immediately stop spam, it does give users an idea that whatever they are reading is actually distributed possibly on multiple channels.

According to a tweet by WABetaInfo, a fan site that tracks the future WhatsApp updates and changes, WhatsApp is testing the Forwarded Message feature that will show the forwarded message string on the bubble if the message has been forwarded from a different chat or the same chat.

The new feature on WhatsApp is still in its beta stage as like many other features that were eventually rolled out in the past. Facebook, the company that now owns WhatsApp is facing a whole lot of criticism for not checking the source of news before making it public to millions of users. The messaging app may not face such issues because it doesn’t promote any news stories or sponsor content. A social media website is very different compared to a texting app.

Users know that WhatsApp is meant for one to one communication but the ability to create groups had led to lots of rumours and fake news being shared on the platform repeatedly. The development team is making its progress towards creating a safer environment for their users and adding the forward message transparent quote on those messages automatically is the first step towards building a spam-free messaging environment.

The tweet posted by WABetaInfo reads, "The new "Forwarded Message" feature notifies you or the recipient that the message has been forwarded. It is NOT about SPAM! "Forwarded message" will appear if the message has been forwarded at least once. [AVAILABLE IN FUTURE]". But there is no information on when this feature will be rolled out to the users or the beta version in which this message is being tested.

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Hidden Android Tricks to Enhance Your Device!

Android is stacked with so many tools and configuration options, we often overlook some of its most useful features. Sometimes they’re hiding in plain sight. Other times, they’re buried so deep, you’d never discover them without spelunking deep into submenus, groping blindly in the dark.  

Enable Chrome Home

If you own an Android device, there’s a good chance you’re using Chrome as your browser. The Chrome browser is widely considered to be one of, if not the best, Android browsers available, but there is a way to make it even better. Open Chrome and in the address bar type chrome://flags and hit Enter. This will bring you to a giant list of all the experimental features and settings within Chrome that are not enabled by default. These features are accessible for testing purposes; however, it should be noted that they may cause Chrome to behave in unexpected ways.

When you open “chrome://flags,” you’ll see a disclaimer warning at the top of the page. We suggest that you read through it, and if you have reservations, back out before you make any changes. That being said, I have been using the experimental Chrome Home feature for some time and have not experienced any questionable side effects. 

Chrome Home changes the look of Chrome slightly; however, the biggest change lies with the address bar. Normally Chrome situates the address bar at the top of the page. With increasingly large devices hitting the market, entering a new URL or performing a search can be cumbersome. Consider how often your hand leaves the keyboard of your device to tap the address bar. It’s not a huge deal, but it definitely interrupts the flow. Fortunately, enabling Chrome Home automatically relocates the address bar to the bottom of the page. This makes it easier and faster to reach, especially for those with large devices. 

To enable Chrome Home, scroll down until you see “Chrome Home.” Tap on it and select “Enable.” You will need to restart Chrome twice before the changes take effect.

Quickly Access the Camera App

Many consumers have shunned traditional point-and-shoot cameras in favour of the camera built in to their smartphones. While a smartphone may not be on par with a professional DSLR, smartphone camera technology has vastly improved, and it’s way more convenient. Unfortunately, no matter how good our smartphone cameras become, opening the camera app can be a hassle. The process of opening your camera app can easily result in lost photo opportunities. Fortunately, there is a way to quickly launch your camera, even from your lock screen. 

Jump in to your device’s settings. Scroll down and tap on the option labelled “Gestures.” In the Gestures menu find “Jump to Camera” and toggle the option on. This will enable you to quickly open your device’s camera app by simply pressing the power button twice in quick succession. You can launch the camera app in this manner from any app or even the lock screen. 

Hide Sensitive Notifications from Lock Screen

The notifications that appear on your lock screen can be incredibly helpful. They allow you to quickly prioritize emails, messages, social media interactions and more. However, these lock screen notifications  can expose sensitive information to prying eyes. Whether you want to make sure your parents aren’t spying on you or are worried your boss might see your questionable weekend activities, it is possible to hide the content of your lock screen notifications. The content of your notifications will only be visible once you unlock your device. 

There are a few different ways to hide the contents of your lock screen notifications, depending on your device. For newer versions of Android: 

• Open your Settings and tap on Notifications. 
• Tap on “All Apps” to expand a dropdown menu and find “No sensitive content on lock screen.” 
• Tapping on that will enable you to select specific apps whose content will be hidden. 

On older devices: 

• Open your Settings and tap on “Sound and notification.” 
• From there, look for “Lock screen” or “When device is locked.” 

 

Stop App Shortcut Creation

The Android operating system allows users to extensively customize the look of their devices. Organizing apps and widgets can be time consuming, which is why it can be infuriating when a new shortcut appears on the home screen of your device immediately after installing an app. These shortcuts can ruin the aesthetic of a carefully organized home screen. Fortunately, you can easily stop the automatic creation of app shortcuts. 

To do so, fire up the Google Play Store. Swipe from the left side of the screen to open the navigation bar. Tap on the cog icon labelled “Settings.” Scroll down to the option labelled “Add icon to Home screen.” Tap on it to uncheck the box. This will prevent shortcuts from being placed on your home screen whenever you install a new app. 

Automatically Delete Pictures that Have Been Backed Up to Google Photos

Google Photos is a fantastic service from Google that automatically backs up the photos and videos on your device to the cloud. However, once they’re backed up, the files still remain on the device. This can be problematic for folks who have limited storage space. 

Normally, in order to free up storage space, users would have to manually select the photos and videos they wished to delete. This can be both tedious and time consuming. Luckily, Android can make this much easier by automatically deleting the photos and videos that have been backed up with Google Photos. 

First thing you want to do is download the Google Photos app (if you haven’t already) and allow it to automatically back up the photos on your device. To enable automatic deletion of photos and videos that have been backed up, head to Settings > Storage. From here, tap on “Manage Storage,” then toggle “Storage Manager” on. (Note: some devices call this “Smart Storage.”) This will automatically delete photos and videos that have been backed up to Google Photos after 90 days...........Continue Reading @ CSU

Best Practices to Secure Your Android Phone

From pickpockets to malware, your Android phone is under siege from all sides. Wily attackers are continually switching up their tactics in hopes of taking control of your device. There are plenty of ways to keep your Android handset safe from the most common security threats, all with a minimum of effort. Just as a deadbolt will prevent a casual thief, so will a passcode foil a pickpocket, while the right security settings can keep most malware-infected apps at bay.

Here are some of the best practices for securing your phone, along with a few helpful tips that could make your life easier.

Enable Remote Tracking, Locking, and Wiping

The prospect of losing our smartphones, or having them stolen, fills us with dread. For those that don’t lock their devices, it brings the risk of someone accessing their accounts for nefarious purposes. All of which are good reasons why you should use Google's 'Find My Device' app, which until recently was called Android Device Manager.

Once it’s set up, you’ll be able to locate your handset (providing it’s turned on and has a wireless signal) and ring, lock, or wipe the phone. It’s a feature you’ll be grateful for if the worst ever happens.

Use a Screen Lock (if you haven't already)

Probably the most basic yet important security feature is one that often gets ignored. Typing in a PIN code or pattern every time you want to use your phone can be annoying, true, but the hassle is worth it should the device ever be stolen or lost. Plus, a huge number of handsets now come with easy-to-set-up fingerprint scanners, so there’s no excuse not to use the feature.

Go to Settings> Lock Screen and Security > Screen Lock Type to set up the system you want to use. It’s also advisable to activate the ‘lock automatically’ feature, which locks the screen five seconds after it turns off automatically.

Keep Everything Up to Date

It may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t keep their Android operating system and apps up to date. Doing so means Google can patch newly discovered vulnerabilities in the OS, while devs can remove bugs and secure their applications.

In the Play Store, go to Settings > Auto-update apps and choose to either update any time or Wi-Fi only. To keep Android up to date, search for Software Update in the Settings menu (its location can vary depending on the phone) and make sure automatic downloads are switched on.

Be Careful If Downloading Apps from Outside of Google’s Store

Google does its best to make sure the apps on the Google Play store are free from malware, but it can't protect you from apps on third-party app stores or web sites. Now, in some cases, third-party app stores will be totally legit—take Amazon's app store, for example. In other cases, though, you might be dealing with an app store that's a lot sketchier than Amazon's. Even worse, you might encounter a website that tries to install an app on your phone without your permission.

Luckily, Android has a setting that blocks any and all apps that aren't from the official Google Play app store. Tap Settings > Security, then toggle off the Unknown sources setting. You can always turn the Unknown sources setting back on to install an app from, say, the Amazon app store, but remember to turn the setting off again once you're done.

Take Advantage of Smart Lock

Smart Lock is possibly one of the most useful yet underutilized Android features. It offers a number of ways to keep a device unlocked, or automatically unlock it without having to use a fingerprint/PIN/pattern. How to access it varies depending on your Android version, but in the latest OS version Nougat, it’s under Lock Screen and Security > Secure Lock Settings.

There are five unlocks method on offer of which we'd recommend you to skip Trusted Voice and Trusted Face, these three are relatively proven to make your life easier, while still having your phone secured most of the time.

On-body detection

When you’re out and about, it’s helpful for your handset to stay unlocked while it’s on your person. This means when you pull the device out of your pocket/bag, or even if you’re carrying it around in your hand, it will be instantly accessible. The system uses the phone’s accelerometer, so it’s not available on every Android device. Once a handset detects it has been set down, it will lock.

Trusted Places

Assuming you live/work with people you trust, or alone, then you might want to consider Smart Lock’s Trusted Places feature. As the name suggests, it allows owners to designate locations where a handset will remain unlocked while it's in the relatively close vicinity. It works best with a Wi-Fi connection, and Google recommends that high-accuracy or battery-saving location mode is turned on. Trusted Places works on estimates, meaning a device could remain unlocked within a radius of up to 80 meters from a set position.

Trusted Devices

Similar to Trusted Places, this keeps your Android device unlocked whenever it is near a chosen device. It’s most useful when pairing a handset with Bluetooth watches, Fitness trackers, and car infotainment systems. I use it so my car’s ready to play Spotify from my phone as soon as I climb in. Always make sure you’re using a trusted Bluetooth device, though your phone will notify you if it can’t determine that you’re using a secure connection.

Manage App Permissions

Android may be a tad annoying about asking for your default app the first time you open a new type of file and app permissions the first time a certain app wants access to something stored in your phone, but once you're set up, it's a blessing when you think about the privacy implications.

For example, Instagram will ask access to the camera, Whatsapp will want to see your contacts, or Waze will ask for location services, however for other less essential functions, you get control about what you want permission to. For example, with very few exceptions I never allow games to access my contacts or other personal information.

Also, you may have missed that the Play Store gives extra information about app permissions, which may come handy before you even install a certain app.

Other Ways to Protect

Enabling two-factor authentication and leveraging Google Authenticator is always a good idea for important accounts. Not connecting to unknown Wi-Fi networks is to say the least a good practice. And lastly, though we're not big fans of antivirus suites on phones, but you should know there are plenty of paid-for and free options from big industry names like Norton, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Avast, along with some excellent lesser-known products such as AVL, Sophos.

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Solve "Source Path Too Long", Can't Delete Folder in Windows

Having issues deleting a folder or a file? Are you getting messages about filename too long or path too long? Then read on for a simple solution.

Windows uses a naming convention called “Long Filenames (LFN)”. The LFN system supports file names up to 255 characters. Windows also has a flag called MAX_PATH which has value 260, meaning a file path can have a maximum of 260 characters including the drive. So, when files are created by other programs that have more than 260 characters they cannot be deleted using Windows or DOS commands. You’ll get the message file name too long or path too long.

Method 1: Using 7zip

7-Zip is open source file archiver with a high compression ratio.

1. Find the path of the file with the filename that is too long to delete
2. Navigate to the file, as if you’re going to create an archive within the 7-zip or winrar application, right click on the file (or F2) and choose to rename. Give the file a shorter name.
3. Success! the file now has a shorter name and can be deleted.

Method 2: Using Robocopy

Robocopy is default available on Windows 7 and higher. Robocopy is a Windows command to copy files from one location to another.

The syntax for Robocopy is quite easy:
robocopy <Source> <Destination> [<File>[ ...]] [<Options>]

There is an option called PURGE. The PURGE option deletes destination files and directories that no longer exist in the source. We will use this flag to delete the folders recursively.

1. create an empty directory (C:\emptyfolder). Let’s say the folder we want to delete is C:\deletefolder
2. Run robocopy c:\emptyfolder c:\deletefolder /purge. Since there are no files or folders in the source directory (C:\emptyfolder), it simply deletes the files and folders under the target directory (C:\deletefolder) recursively! 

Method 3 (For NodeJS users): Using RimRaf

Working with Node.js on Windows platform, can be tricky and it might happen that some trivial action will fail, for instance removing nodemodules folder. This is due to recursive references of folders and files within nodemodules, which ultimately ends up with a long name (path).

1. Install RimRaf npm install rimraf -g
2. Delete the folder using rimraf nodemodules

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How Everyday Technology Can Put You In Danger?

Technology is an aspect of our everyday lives that has achieved deep acculturation due to its easy access and the degree of its complexity – which is simple and can be used by anyone without requiring special skills or knowledge. The Internet has revolutionized shopping, information search, entertainment, media etc.

Popular Security Systems aren’t Necessarily Secure

What might you do if your home security system turned out to be a shelter for hackers? The gadget you use to continue meandering criminals out might have a flaw that lets hackers in the back door – literally. Wi-Fi connected home security systems are an open invitation for hackers to use a variety of tricks to exploit their vulnerabilities.

Bullguard’s security research specialist, Ilia Shnaidman, spotted several flaws in a popular Wi-Fi connected home security system called iSmartAlarm. This security system is fully integrated with a siren, cameras, and smart locks that can be controlled with a smartphone app. It sounds secure, but it’s not.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to know how vulnerable a digital security framework is until someone hacks it. The same goes for any digital gadgets, including smartphones.

Your Smartphone is Easy to Hijack!

If you think that a password or biometric lock on your smartphone makes your data secure, think again. That might protect your data if your phone gets stolen, but hackers can get your data without touching your phone.

Although all messages are received on the same device, social media messages are sent over the internet, while text messages are relayed as data packets through a cell phone tower’s control channel. Text message data isn’t easy for the average person to intercept. However, social media messages are, and they’re often unencrypted, which is bad news for sensitive data.

If you’re using an unsecured public Wi-Fi network to send and receive social media messages, all the information you share can be hacked. Your smartphone is like a miniature computer and hackers can run programs to log your keystrokes, capture login information, and anything you send in a message to your friends. This includes what time you leave for work every day, and your vacation plans.

Sharing with your friends may seem harmless, but if someone with malicious intent intercepts messages detailing your daily schedule, you could come home to a ransacked house (or worse).

iOS and Android have Flaws

A former bug in Apple’s iOS allowed anyone to shut down an iPhone by sending a short, specific text message consisting of Unicode characters. The receiver didn’t even need to open the text; their phone just needed to receive it. The iPhone rebooted itself after about fifteen seconds, but users reported other problems.

The cause? The way iPhones display incoming messages. The specific set of Unicode characters that triggered the phone to shut down couldn’t be displayed by the iPhone’s notification pop-up. To avoid a total crash, the device turned itself off.

A similar bug affected Android devices a couple years ago, allowing malware to wreak havoc by sending a photo or a text message. The user didn’t need to open the message or view the photo for the malware to take over. The hacker could gain total control over the phone to access apps and even turn on the camera.

The scariest part? If a hacker gains control over the app that controls your smart home security system, you’re in big trouble.

Be Cautious of What You Share on Digital Devices!

As the complexity of technology grows, so does the opportunity for hackers to exploit its weaknesses. No matter how many security measures you take (like passwords, biometric locks, and data encryption), you can never be 100% safe in the digital world. The best security measure you can take as an individual is to be selective with what you share across digital platforms. Remember that everything you post in social media is stored on some hard drive that you don’t control.

It may not be convenient, but sticking to a traditional home security system is ultimately the safest option. Perhaps, in the future, there will be a security technology that can ward off the majority of hackers. Until then, keep yourself safe by being selective with sharing information on digital platforms.

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WhatsApp Adds Colorful Text Status Updates

WhatsApp's Snapchat Stories clone is getting a new text-only feature. Now, instead of just photos and videos, you can update your WhatsApp Status with colorful text status. The update allows users to choose a font, background color, and even add links.

The feature, which is rolling out now, is a lot like Facebook's colorful status updates: write a snippet of text, pick a background color, and customize the font. You can also link out to other websites from within a text post.

This feature is specifically for the Snapchat Stories-like version of Status, and is different from the old-school text-only statuses the app re-introduced earlier this year. Those text-only updates still only allow you to share simple messages like "busy" or "available".

On the beta side of things, another update from WABetaInfo hints that WhatsApp will introduce Instagram style stickers in Status. While it was earlier possible to insert text and emoji on photos in iOS, WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow users to apply stickers on their photos.

WhatsApp Status has been one of Facebook's more successful Stories clones. The Stories-like feature now has 250 million daily users, making the feature more popular than all of Snapchat. Besides adding text posts, WhatsApp is also adding the ability for web users to view Statuses, opening up the potential for even more growth

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Google Now Commands That Makes Your Day Easier!!!

Phone Calls, SMS And E-mail

• Call Raj at work.
• Text Rahul I’ll be there in a few.
• Call the The Park Hotel.
• Are we still on for our meeting tomorrow at 2?
• Send message to Manoj Yeah I saw it, it was really good.
• Call Truffles at St. Marks Street
• E-mail Maddy, BCC Rohith, subject Lets catch-up tomorrow, message Hey, Lets catch up tomorrow at 1pm at Pizza Hut, Brigade Road.

Reminders and Calendar Events

Set reminders for yourself from the homescreen to do anything from sit-ups in the morning to emptying the bins every Thursday at 3pm. You can even set location-based reminders

• Note to self: “Car parked in G 18”.
• Remind me to return Maddy’s pendrive in fifteen minutes.
• Create new calendar event: “Meeting with Maddy at 2:00pm next Tuesday”.
• Post to Facebook: “I’m using Google Now commands to post with my voice!”

Control Apps Using Google Now

First, make sure you have Google Now enabled on any screen (Settings -> Google -> Search & Now -> Voice -> “Ok Google” detection -> “From any screen”). Once this is done, you just need to hold the Home button on your phone or say “Ok, Google,” and the Now prompt will pop up.

Control YouTube video playback

Open the YouTube app, activate Google Now, and say any of the following commands to control your YouTube playback. It’s particularly useful if your hands are occupied repairing a computer or handling food. (No one wants a phone covered in raw chicken sludge.)

• Play – Play a video
• Pause – Pause a video
• Stop – Stop playing and buffering the video
• Minimize – Shrink the video to the bottom right corner of the screen
• Maximize – Make the video full screen
• Exit” or Close player – Close the video but leave YouTube open
• Play on … or Connect to … – then say “TV,” “Chromecast,” or “Console” to stream YouTube to the device of your choice. Follow this with “Disconnect from …” one of the above devices to stop streaming.
• Skip ads – The greatest voice command of them all!

WhatsApp, Hangouts, Telegram, Viber Google Now Commands

Just as you can dictate and send a text message using your default messaging app, you can use just about any other messaging app using Google Now. Below are some examples:

• Send a [WhatsApp] to Dad
• Send a message to [Mom] with [Telegram]
• Send a message with [WhatsApp]

Gmail

If you manage crucial things like bills, flights, and meetings through your Gmail, you can access them using Google Now directly from the Android homescreen. Examples include:

• Show me my receipts
• Show me my bills
• What time is my flight?
• Where is my hotel?

Google Now Sports Google Now Voice Commands.

• What’s the number of centuries scored by Sachin?
• How much does Vince Wilfork weigh?
• How many championships has Phil Jackson won?
• What’s the cricket score?

Google Now Weather Commands.

You can check the weather using a number of voice commands through Google Now:

• Is it sunny outside right now?
• Is it going to snow on Sunday?
• Will I need an umbrella later?
• Weather for Thursday.
• Do I need a jacket tomorrow in Bengaluru?
• What is the weather going to be like this weekend?

Google Now Commands For Directions, Maps, and Location.

• Map of Bengaluru.
• Where is Area Code 560001?
• Get me to work from here*
• Get me to Chinnaswamy stadium from here*
• How far is the sun?
• Where’s the nearest ATM machine?
• Where is the closest Starbucks?
• How far away is Mysore?
• How do I get to Kanteerava Stadium for my location?
• Navigate me to Brigade Road on foot* (you can also say by bike, by bus, etc.)

Funny Google Now Commands.

Google Now may not have the slick image of Siri or the personable voice of Alexa, but that doesn’t mean it lacks a sense of humor. If you’re clued up on your pop/geek culture, then try the below commands if you want to get some free laughs or at least mild enjoyment.

• Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right
• Make me a sandwich
• When am I?
• What is the loneliest number?
• Do a barrel roll
• What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

There are many things Google Now can do for you. Make sure you take full advantage of all the features offered by google voice search.

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Configure Your Facebook Account to Self-Delete When You Die & Add Legacy Contact

While it’s hard to digest, death is inevitable in one's life and everyone has to face it one or the other day. These days most of the people come across the Internet and mostly social media including Facebook. Facebook is probably the most popular of all such platforms. It has appropriate options which allow a deceased person’s Facebook profile to be memorialized – the ones with Remembering written – after getting a request from a verified person.

A friend or a family member can either initiate,

1. A memorialization request.
2. An account deletion by a special request for a deceased person’s account.
   Note: A proof of death is required.

A person can select Legacy Contacts for their Facebook account. According to Facebook, A legacy contact is someone you choose to manage your account after you pass away. They'll be able to do things like pin a post on your Timeline, respond to new friend requests and update your profile picture. They won't post as you or see your messages. However, they can’t Login into the memorialized account, change any other information, read chats with other friends, etc. If there is no Legacy Contact attached to an account, no one will be able to make any changes.

How to Auto Delete Your Facebook account after your death?

Now, if you don’t want to keep your Facebook account alive after your death you can get it deleted automatically after you pass away. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Sign-in to your Facebook account.
2. Click the down arrow near the Home button.
3. Click Settings in the drop-down menu.
4. Click General on the left-hand side (Legacy option was available in Security earlier)
5. Scroll down to Manage Account and select a friend.
6. Click Request account deletion
   
7. Click Delete after Death.
   

Facebook will delete your account including all the data present in it after someone notifies them about your death.

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Smart Google Search Tricks That Will Make Life Easier!

Google Search is among the most widely used tools in the world. It’s used so often that the act of using Google Search has become its own verb. You can “Google” practically anything and the website is a popular provider. Here are some tips to search smarter so you can find what you’re really looking for.

Search Exact Phrases

If you’re looking for an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the keywords to view results containing that exact phrase. For example, “how to dual boot ubuntu and windows 10”

Exclude a word

If your search terms contain a keyword with several meanings, you can exclude one of the meanings by adding a hyphen (-) before the keyword. For example, "avengers -movie”

Search a specific domain

You can search within a particular URL by including the term site:example.com before or after your keywords

Generate similar content

To generate content like what’s found on a URL you already know, use the related: operator before adding the URL.

Search for words in body copy

To retrieve pages where all the keywords appear in the body of the page, type allintext: before the search term.

Perform calculations on Google Search

You can simply type in the equation and get the result instantly. You can use either the letter “x” or “*” as the multiply symbol on your PC, while “/” is the division symbol.

Convert between units

Whether it’s meters to centimeters, feet to yards or any other Google has you covered. Just type convert followed by the numbers and units you want to use, and hit Enter.

Find pages that link to specific URLs

Type link: before a URL name, and you’ll be shown all the pages on Google that link to it. This is particularly useful for SEOs who are searching for back-links to a specific page.

Search by file type

If you’re looking for a specific file on the Web, you can use the filetype: operator to specify the document type you’re searching for, and Google will restrict results to pages containing those document types.

 Find your public IP address

Need your IP address? type my ip/ my ip address. Simple.

 You don’t need a dictionary, just ask Google

Type define followed by the word you want to know the meaning of.

 You can view flight schedules on Google

To find out flight schedules, simply use the keyword flight origin to destination. For example, flight bangalore to delhi.

 Translate from one language to another

You can either visit Google Translate to get your translation done or just use the translate keyword in Google to translate the text to another language.

 Use Google as a countdown timer

This is handy. Just search timer for x minutes and Google will automatically start the countdown for you.

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Facebook Wants to Protect Indian Women from Online Abuse Using a Shield.

Facebook has detailed a new set of safety features for India, which give users greater control over their profile pictures.

The company found that users did not share profile pictures which include their faces due to a fear of the images being publicly-accessible.

Facebook users in India will soon be able to access an optional profile picture guard, which restricts how users can interact with their profile picture.

The features of Facebook’s optional profile picture guard are:

• Other people will no longer be able to download, share or send your profile picture in a message on Facebook.
• People you’re not friends with on Facebook won’t be able to tag anyone, including themselves, in your profile picture.
• Where possible, Facebook will prevent others from taking a screenshot of your profile picture on Facebook, which is currently available only on Android devices.
• Facebook will display a blue border and shield around your profile picture as a visual cue of protection.

Based on preliminary tests, Facebook has learned that when someone adds an extra design layer to their profile picture, other people are at least 75% less likely to copy that picture.

Facebook has partnered with Jessica Singh, an illustrator who took inspiration from traditional Indian textile designs such as bandhani and kantha, to create designs for people to add to their profile picture.

Anyway, what none of these address is Facebook’s super lax moderation rules (because of their stretched ideas of freedom of speech) and the large-scale trolling that’s so common across India and other countries. It’s something that they need to urgently address, because Facebook has time and again proved it is okay with having vicious, violent, or threatening comments against women remain online. This became obvious when the Facebook training manual was leaked in May this year. And as this Conversation piece showed us, there’s enough research to show that women are often forced to retreat and stay silent in the face of encountering abuse online.

So these small Facebook suggestions to protect your photo might help a little bit. But they’re not going to go far enough.

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