Keeping your information secure from prying eyes.
Are you having problems accessing your Gmail account from Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook? Over the past 6 months I’ve encountered a number of clients who have had problems reliably accessing their Gmail account via these apps. Here’s a list of symptoms my clients experienced and how I fixed the problems.
Read moreIs your web browser acting oddly all of the sudden? Do funny windows pop-up showing you ads? Do your Google searches look weird? If so, you might have inadvertently installed some adware on your Mac. Starting in late 2014 I noticed a rash of Macs infected with adware. Adware is software that makes ads pop-up … Read more
If Sophos detects that your Mac has a virus-infected file on it, here are instructions on how to use the Quarantine Manager to get rid of the infection. Previously, I’ve endorsed the use of an anti-virus application and specifically recommend Sophos or ClamXav.
Read moreSophos is a great anti-virus application for Mac users. Sophos is free for home users and quite affordable for business users. Sophos updates itself daily and scans every file that you download or open.
Read moreAre you retiring an older Mac that has a mechanical, spinning hard drive and its running macOS version 10.7 or higher? If so, here are instructions on how you can securely erase the Mac’s hard drive before you donate your Mac or sell it.
Read moreA few weeks ago Apple released an update which addresses the bash security vulnerability found in OS X during the last week of September 2014. The security vulnerability was nicknamed shellshock or the bash bug and reportedly affects all versions of OS X as well as many versions of Linux and Unix released over the past … Read more
I know you subscribe to my Tech Tips to get pearls of wisdom and nuggets of knowledge. Not this week. This Tech Tip is just for fun. Hope you enjoy it. I know we can all relate to this scenario. Computer: Please enter your new password. Person: cabbage
Read moreThis Tech Tip is a cautionary tale. As a general rule, I recommend that you avoid installing apps that claim to tune-up or optimize your Mac. Last week, I worked on two Macs whose performance was negatively impacted by MacKeeper, MacBooster and TuneUpMyMac. A third Mac’s web browsing had been hijacked by Conduit Search. It’s not clear … Read more
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that is much less well-known than Google, but you should check it out. As the title of this article indicates, DuckDuckGo is a privacy-friendly alternative to Google.
Read moreIn last week’s Tech Tip, I provided an overview of a few ways a person can remotely access their own Mac, including LogMeIn. I tend to use LogMeIn to provide my clients with remote support. If you’d like to set up your Mac to allow me to remotely control it, please follow these instructions for downloading and installing … Read more
Do you want to remotely access your Mac so you can open applications and edit files on it? This is an increasingly common request. Here’s a quick overview of a few ways to remotely access your Mac.
Read moreWould you like to improve the security of your online accounts such as your AppleID, Gmail, FaceBook, PayPal and Dropbox accounts? If so, you should consider turning on two-step authentication for these accounts. Two-step authentication is also called two-factor authentication. Typically, two-factor authentication requires you to enter your password as well as a code sent … Read more
Would you like to secure your Internet connection when you’re using a public wireless network at a hotel, coffee shop or airport? If so, you should consider using a personal VPN service like Cloak or TunnelBear.
Read moreDo you have children? Would you like to configure your home network to easily block adult content? Here’s an easy and affordable way to set up adult content filtering for all Macs, PCs, iPhones and iPads on your network. Sign-up for the free OpenDNS Home service.
Read moreDisable Java web browser plug-in in Safari, Chrome or Firefox on your Mac. Don’t be confused with Javascript. It’s okay to use Java-based applications.
Read moreMake your passwords longer and more complex and make a written list to track your passwords. Or, use a password manager or an encrypted disk image to store your passwords.
Read moreDo you use your laptop on public wireless (wi-fi) networks? Do you own a business and want to give remote staff a way to securely connect to your office network? If so, then you should know about VPNs.
Read moreWhile viruses are not a major risk for Mac users, it’s still prudent to have an anti-virus application installed on your Mac. Sophos offers a free Macintosh anti-virus application for use on home computers. Give it a try.
Read moreThe purpose of this article is to help you assess the strength and security of your password and to encourage you to start using more secure passwords. As a consequence of the fact that we all need to keep track of many passwords, many people use just one or two passwords over and over again. … Read more
Here’s an easy way to determine the default password for many routers. You might need to know your router’s default password if you forget or don’t have a record of your router’s current password or if you end up resetting the router to its factory defaults.
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