There is an online threat which has been common on Microsoft Windows computers for years now, but which is now becoming a real problem for Apple’s Macs as well. Click the image below to watch the video lesson:

The threat involves a scam where a you encounter a website that’s designed to trick you into installing a “trojan”. The trojan attempts to get you to enter your credit card number so the criminals behind the scam can steal your money.

This video shows you an actual example of one of these dangerous websites and what happens if you make the mistake of installing the trojan and teaches you what you need to know to protect yourself.

Update: I’ve resized the video to allow it to play on more mobile devices.

After watching the video, to get more step-by-step help with safely & easily using the computer online, click one of the two options below:

Apple Mac Safe & Easy Internet Basics Course

or

Microsoft Windows Safe & Easy Internet Basics Course

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

I thought I’d share this good tip for remembering & keeping track of passwords with you, which is part of a post on Lifehacker.com (see link below for original article). It’s not a new article, but has some good info. This password technique is almost identical to the one I’ve been using for the better part of a decade now.

I have a LOT of passwords for my various accounts and very rarely have trouble remembering them because I have a system. Developing systems is a great way to make things easier for yourself in all areas of life, not just remembering passwords.

Here’s the tip from their site:

5. Never have to write down countless, unique passwords with a single master pattern

The safest place to store your passwords is in your head, and you don’t want to use one password for all your logins. This isn’t so much a “memory” hack as an efficiency tip, but it only forces your noggin to come up with one really great password system rather than lots of highly forgettable variations. Choose a base password, like an abbreviated or acronym version of a favorite phrase or song, then create a system for changing it up site to site, like using the first three letters of the site name, the first four consonants or first two vowels, whatever fits for you. Clicking “Forgot your password?” and waiting on verification emails will be a distant memory, one you can feel just fine about forgetting.

Source: Top 10 Memory Hacks

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

A lot of people are unwittingly publishing information about themselves online when they share photos and videos online. This information is revealed in something called “metadata” which you can think about as “data about the data”, or info about the information (data) in the file.

This information about the file can be something as simple and visible as the file name, but the information most people are talking about when they mention metadata tends to be more “hidden” inside the file.

One example is “ID3 tags” in MP3 files which hold the musician’s name and other information, another example is the data in a photo which can reveal mundane information such as the camera settings when taking the photo and the date, but also GPS location information revealing exactly where the photo was taken.

This information is visible in typical photo viewing and editing programs such as Picasa for Windows or iPhoto for Mac OS X. It also often is revealed automatically on photo sharing websites.

A file name could be thought of as the simplest example of metadata since it can be used to describe the contents.

However, many types of files contain more information stored inside a special part of the file. Common examples of files with metadata include music, photos, & video files.

In photographs and videos the camera or smartphone typically records GPS information about your location and this can end up visible to the world when you share those files online.

This may not be a problem with all photos or videos, depending on where you shoot them, but ones taken of your home reveal where you live and what kinds of things you own. In effect, you’re casing your own home for potential burglars.

Most cameras and phones that can record this information will have a setting to prevent saving location information to the image. Consider sharing your photos privately with family and friends instead of in public galleries. When uploading to any site, look around (under privacy on the settings screen for example) for a setting that lets you turn off displaying GPS location data.

I show you how to disable location services in one of the video lessons in my How to Use the iPhone App.

Listen to the audio above for the full Plain English explanation and understanding of metadata and how it can affect your privacy.

You can also take a look at my easy online computer training courses for more in-depth and step-by-step computer help.

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

In this article I’ll answer a question sent in by a student named Daniel McClutchy who writes:

“Hi Worth:  Your CDs have helped a great deal to understand the internet and computer basics.

Thanks.

I have a question for you.  Can you explain what a torrent site is? I followed a recommendation of a co-worker and logged on to one.

My Kasperksy went crazy, not allowing me to access it.  Is this because they contain viruses?

Thanks, Daniel”

Well Daniel, I’m glad you’ve found my lessons to be a help; I always appreciate it when people take the time to let me know how they’re benefiting from my hard work!

So, let’s start off by explaining what a torrent site is, and then I’ll answer your question about whether they’re dangerous.

A “torrent” is short for “BitTorrent” which is a technology used to distribute files over the Internet.  Like any technology, it can be used positively or negatively.

Torrents can potentially speed up the downloading of large files (downloading is the process of copying a file “down” to your computer from another one, usually over the Internet — when sending a file it’s called uploading).

It speeds up downloads by basically chopping up (so to speak) a file into tiny pieces which can be sent in a “swarm” from dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of computers at once, each only having to send a small amount of the file.

While there are many legitimate uses for this, perhaps the most common use for torrents is to share pirated movies, music and other copyrighted files.

Now I’m not going to go into a moral lecture on whether or not it’s right to take other people’s content without paying for it, but I will warn you that there are a lot of risks involved in using the “torrent sites” you’re asking about.

Now as I said, there are many completely legal and legitimate uses for the BitTorrent technology, but when people talk about “torrent sites”, they’re generally referring to the ones using BitTorrent to distribute copyrighted material without paying for it.

Those sites you do need to be wary of. Let me explain why.

First off, many of those torrent sites are hosting ads from less legitimate advertising networks which tend to be used by “shady” sites such as gambling and pornography sites.

These ads are more likely to contain “malware”, which is software (including, but not limited to viruses and worms) designed to cause damage. Malware is written these days to make money by infecting computers, and so shady sites often do this as a cheap way to make money, and they apparently don’t care whether they cause harm!

So many torrent sites are capable of infecting a computer simply by you visiting it, especially if you’re not protecting yourself with good
Internet security software (such as Kaspersky) and by avoiding using the Internet Explorer web browser.

Beyond the potential risk of simply visiting a torrent site, many of the files a person might try to download from those sites are themselves
infected with dangerous malware.

It’s well known that Apple’s Mac computers tend to have far fewer threats than Windows computers do, but the biggest threats for Macs that I recall from the last few years have all come from downloading illegal copyrighted material from sites like these.

And it’s a far bigger problem for Microsoft Windows computers!

One study I’ve heard of says that as much as 47% of all “zero-day malware” (one of the most dangerous kinds) is distributed through BitTorrent!

Lastly, beyond the potential threats to your computer posed by torrent sites and other file trading sites, there’s a very real risk to your wallet.

The recording industry, including the film and music industries have been very aggressively pursuing people who do illegal file sharing and are happy to sue you for a lot of money if they catch you.

And believe me, they can afford better lawyers than you or I!

Internet Service Providers will often shut down your Internet connection if they detect you’ve been sharing files illegally, so there’s that risk too.

So my advice is to steer clear of torrent sites. There are plenty of inexpensive ways to listen to music and watch TV shows and movies online or offline without exposing yourself to the risks of file trading sites such as torrent sites.

I hope that makes sense, and helps.

Until next time, take care, and enjoy,

Worth Godwin
Plain English Simplicity for This Complex Modern World

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

A few days ago, I posted an article called Understanding URLs or Web Addresses To Help Be Protected From Phishing Scams which taught you the basics of understanding “URLs” or web addresses, so you could recognize and avoid a common trick used by online scammers to fool people into thinking links in emails were legit.

I strongly recommend reading that article if you haven’t yet, as it contains valuable information to help protect your privacy and security online.

In that article I mentioned an email I’d received which looked like a legitimate email from Amazon.com on the surface, but which was clearly an example of a dangerous phishing scam if you knew what to look for.

Well, as it happens, I recorded a video where you can safely watch as I pick apart the actual scam email I received and listen as I point out all of the warning signs which helped me recognize and avoid this common type of online scam.

I just updated this video and decided to post it here and to my podcast to help you learn how to stay safe online. It clocks in at about 9 minutes long and explains everything in Plain English.

If you’re watching this on my website, you should see two players below for compatibility reasons. The first should give you a sharper picture & the option of full-screen on a computer, the second is for mobile devices such as the iPod Touch, iPhone & iPad, and for that reason is the version which goes out on the podcast.

Click the player below for the high quality computer version:

Tip: in the lower right corner of the video player above is a square button which will make the video full screen so you can see the details more easily. To the left of that button is a volume control you can use to make it louder if needed.

Tap the image below for the mobile version of this video:

If you found this video helpful, imagine how much more benefit you’ll get from hours of quick, easy video lessons like this, explaining computer basics and more in Plain English.

Use the links below to learn more about my quick & easy video lesson CDs.  You can also use the tip I shared in the video above to see the links are legit because they point to pages right here on WorthGodwin.com…

Click for: How to Use Email for Windows PC – Safe & Easy Email Course
or
Click for: How to Use Email for Apple Mac – Safe & Easy Email Course

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

An online scam that almost had me fooled – here’s a tip to protect you

A while back I wrote you about how a number of people had their Apple iTunes account broken into, and I mentioned how this most likely happened due to “phishing scams”.

Phishing scams, of course, are scams where a criminal tries to trick you into entering personal information ranging from username and passwords, to credit card numbers or other information that can be used for identity theft.

Knowledge is the most powerful tool you can use to stay safe. In this email I’ll teach you something about web site addresses which will help protect you against phishing scams and similar threats.  URLs (short for “Uniform Resource Locator” or basically, a website address) can be broken down into smaller parts which can help you understand how they work, which can help you stay safer online.

I recently opened an email which at first glance looked like it came from Amazon.com and was an order confirmation. It looked very official and for a half second, I was totally fooled, despite being very knowledgeable about these things.

[Update: I've added a new post to the blog where I show you the email and go over in plain English exactly how to was able to recognize the scam email - use the link to watch the video]

Now there were a number of things in the email which made me realize it was a scam, but the big tip-off  was that the links in the email didn’t actually point to Amazon.com, although I’m sure if I’d clicked them I would have been taken to a website designed to *look* like Amazon.

Understanding how website addresses work will help you avoid falling for that trick, and it can help make your life easier in general.
Let’s start with the term domain name. We’re not just going to talk about domain names themselves, but also “top level domain names” (TLDs) and “subdomains”.

Not everyone understands what a domain name is, exactly, and some people think they do, but actually misunderstand exactly what it is.  That’s OK — keep reading to make sense  of the computer term, and others related to it.

Phishing scams usually can only fool people if the person doesn’t understand how to read and break down the address of a website into it’s individual parts.  The scammers will make a website address that looks official if you don’t read it carefully or if you don’t understand how the addresses work.

If you can’t read the address properly and can’t tell a real address from a fake one, then you can get into real trouble.

Let’s take a look at the parts that make up a website address so you understand it better. We’ll use a real & legitimate website address as an example.

When you’re looking at a website address, it typically has a format something like the following (note – the example is not a link)

www.worthgodwin.com/computer-training-cds/

You’ll notice is has a few sections to the address, so let’s break it down into parts, using the above address as an example.

www — this is the “subdomain” and despite popular belief, it is optional, and also does not have to be “www”. “www” is by far the most common subdomain, but pretty much anything could be a subdomain, or you can even leave it off in most cases.
But the bottom line is you can set it to anything you want, including something potentially deceptive.

worthgodwin — in the above example, this is the actual domain name. Typically the domain name is the name of the business or organization that runs the site, or it is descriptive of what the site is about.

This has to be purchased, and has to be unique, so you can’t use someone else’s domain without their permission.

.COM — this is the “TLD” or top level domain name. .com is by far the most common, but there are many others. The TLD is supposed to give the visitor an idea what broad category the site should fit into.

.Com means commercial, (although many non-commercial sites use it) .org is some kind of organization like a non-profit organization, etc.

Each country has it’s own TLD, too, like .US for the United States, .UK for the United Kingdom, .IN for India, etc.

Many of the TLDs are pretty casual — i.e. you can use whatever you want, even if it’s not an exact match for your type of site.

But some of them are very carefully restricted, such as .GOV for US government, .MIL for military, .EDU for actual schools or universities, etc.

/computer-training-cds/ — the last part of the address above refers to a folder, just like a folder on your computer. This is normally used to indicate a specific section of the site, and in this case is the main page with information about my computer training CDs.

If you are setting up your own site, keeping it organized like this can help Google figure out what your site is about, and help you get the visitors you want.

So now that you have a better understanding of the individual parts of a web address, how does this relate to protecting against phishing scams?

Well, first off, anytime you see a link in an email, you can put your mouse pointer over it and see where the link will take you.  If the link doesn’t match the supposed sender, that’s a dead giveaway.

So if the email is supposed to be from Amazon.com, but the link actually points to someplace completely different, do not click on the link!

But some scammers get a little more clever with it and will make the link point to something like:

amazon.fakesite.com

See what they did there?

If you look at that with understanding of website addresses, you’ll see the fake address has Amazon in the address, but it’s the *subdomain* not the domain name!

That should clearly tell you that the site is NOT Amazon.com, but someone who doesn’t understand the difference could fall for that trick very easily.

And that’s the tip I wanted to share with you to help keep you safe.

One last thing — I mentioned you can put your mouse pointer over a link and leave it there for a moment to see where the link will take you.

On most email programs and web browsers, the link address will show up on the very bottom of the window in something called the “status bar”. If you don’t see the status bar at the bottom of your email window, look in the “View” menu and you should see an option to show or hide the status bar.  The exact location of this menu option varies from one program to the next, but it’s generally found in the View menu somewhere.

The one big exception to this is newer versions of the Mac OS X Mail program did away with the status bar and instead the address will show up in a “tool tip” which is like a little word bubble which appears after a second or two when you put your mouse pointer over the link.

Why not test this tip out with the links below.  The links take you to my website to a page where you can find out more about my easy video lesson CD course on Safe and Easy Email — included in the lessons is a lot more info on protecting yourself online (including video lessons showing you more like what I talked about in this article), plus simple basics of how to use email and more.

Here are the links to try out:

If you have a PC running any version of Windows:

Microsoft Windows How to Use Email Safely

If you have an Apple Mac computer running OS X:

Apple Mac How to Use Email Safely

When you put your pointer over either link you’ll see it points directly to my website and so is safe to click.

I hope that helps, and that you stay safe and have a great day.

Until next time, take care, and enjoy,

Worth Godwin
Plain English Simplicity For This Complex Modern World

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

I’ve been trying to get caught up so I could have a chance to write a new article for my blog, so with this recent story to illustrate a point, I thought I’d share this important advice to protect your privacy and security.

I don’t know if you’ve heard about the recent news about people who had their cards charged against their will by Apple’s iTunes Store, but it’s been all over the news, at least in the tech world.

A lot of people have been blaming Apple and saying the iTunes App Store was hacked, but it looks like a problem with passwords.

In this article I’ll help you understand what happened, and give you a few tips to avoid similar problems.

First off, if you’re not familiar with it, the App Store is part of Apple’s iTunes Store, and is an online market where you can get free or paid “Apps” for mobile devices such as the iPod Touch, iPhone, and the iPad.

Apps are basically programs (also called applications) just like you would find on your computer, but designed to run on a mobile device like a smartphone.

Apple’s App Store lets you browse through thousands of these apps which let you do a wide variety of things from keeping up with news, to reading a book, to working with photos, to playing games, and a lot more.

Again, the same basic idea as an application or program for a computer, just the “pocket sized” edition, so to speak.

The App Store can be found within the iTunes program on your computer, or by using the App Store icon on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Other companies also provide app stores for their devices.

So what happened with these unauthorized charges everyone is talking about?

Well, basically what happened is, people noticed that 40 out of 50 of the top-ranked apps (ranked in terms of copies sold) in the books category were all from the same person!

This seemed a little suspicious that one person would have managed to pull this off without being up to something. The next piece of the puzzle turned up when people started reporting unwanted charges on their accounts for hundreds or even in some cases over a thousand dollars, all orders for Apple Apps.

It seems that somehow criminals had gained access to at least a few hundred accounts people had on iTunes, they’d been used to place orders for dozens of apps, racking up big bills for each person who had been victimized.

Some people thought the App Store itself had been hacked, but most likely the each account had been broken into individually, probably by one of two means.

The first is known as a “brute force password crack”, and it’s where a program is used to try one password after another, starting with common ones, until the right one is guessed.

This may sound like a time-consuming process that no one would ever bother with, but remember it’s a program that does it automatically, and it starts with the easy to guess common passwords that so many people make the mistake of using.

The other possibility is that the passwords were stolen via a “phishing scam”, which is were people are tricked into entering their passwords into a website designed to look legit, but which is not.

Who is to blame?

At this point, the people behind it are unknown, but seem to be based in Asia. It is most likely an organized criminal organization instead of just one person acting alone.

Here’s what to do if you have an iTunes Store account:

If you’re concerned your account may have been compromised, you can find out by opening iTunes on your computer, then clicking the iTunes Store on the left side.

Then click your email address where it appears in the upper right of the window and you’ll be asked for your password. It’s OK to enter it there.

Once you log in, you’ll see a list of account-related items, including a “Purchase History” button you can click to look over any orders. You should be able to spot if there are items listed which you never ordered.

On the accounts screen you can also click the button “Edit Account Info” to change your password as a precaution.

If you find fraudulent charges, you can call Apple at: 1-800-275-2273 (to talk to a real person, press 0 at each prompt)

Here are a few tips for being safe with passwords:

1) Avoid using a simple word as your password, especially easy to guess things such as your name, your child or pet’s name, your phone number, the word ‘password’, etc.

Basically avoid anything you’d find in the dictionary to start with.

2) Don’t use the same password for everything – passwords are like keys, and I don’t think you’d hire a locksmith who used the same lock & key for every door and every customer. Don’t make the
same mistake with your passwords!

3) Longer and more complicated passwords are safer: as I mentioned above, brute force cracking methods will basically run through the dictionary when trying to break in — the longer the password is, and the more you mix in numbers with letters, UPPER and lower case letters (liKe THis), and even punctuation, the better.

4) Be careful about where you enter in your username and password information, and especially be wary of emails that come out of the blue asking you to “reset your account”, “update your information”, etc. And make sure that you look at the address bar on the top of your web browser window and read the address to make sure you’re on an official site when you sign in.

If you want to learn more, I talk more in depth about passwords and safety on a variety of my easy computer lesson CDs available on my website, including on the CD “5 Common & Costly Computer Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them Yourself” which is part of the Windows Basics and the Apple Mac Basics bundles.

I also have CDs with audio and video lessons on how to recognize and avoid the phishing scams I mentioned earlier, which can help protect you against having your password or other important information stolen.

You can learn more and stay safer by taking a look at my easy, Plain English lesson CDs by visiting:

On that page you can either scroll down for written and video testimonials, or click the Apple Mac training or the Windows computer training links to see the list of lessons for your computer type.

Either way, I hope this lesson helps you stay safe and secure. If you have questions or comments about any of this, feel free to scroll down and use the comments box below.

Until next time, take care, and enjoy,

Worth Godwin
Plain English Simplicity For This Complex Modern World

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

In this computer question & answer audio lesson, I’m answering a question sent in by subscriber Patt Davis who writes:

“Hello Worth,
I have been enjoying your advice for some time now and I appreciate the help.

My computer just recently has been hijacked by a so called Windows Security Alert that wants me to purchase their anti-virus software and it will not let me access any other program other than the internet.

No exe programs will run. Not even my magicjack phone. Keep getting a warning pop-up. Has a green sheild with a check in the middle. Keeps looping back to their site for me to purchase it.

Is there anything I can do on my own to stop this? Or will I have to take my hard drive in to have a professional clean it? I do have AVG but of course this virus will not let me run it… any suggestions?

Thank you,
Patt Davis”

This kind of problem is very common these days, and is caused by something called “hijackware”. Listen to this audio computer lesson to hear my suggestions about what to do if your computer is infected, plus tips on how to avoid getting infected in the first place.

Computer security is a complex topic and is an issue not just for Windows computers but also Apple’s Macs, despite what many people think. If you need more help, you’re not alone.

I suggest taking a look at my Safe and Easy Internet course CDs, which are available for either Apple Mac or Windows PC. Both versions include lessons on recognizing and avoiding problems like these, including one lesson which safely lets you see a common example of the tactics used by malicious sites which try to trick you into infecting your computer.

You get to see step-by-step exactly what to look for, and what to do if you encounter a site like that, including the BIG mistake most people make and how to avoid making it yourself. And that’s just one of the dozens of quick, easy lessons you get.

Take a look at one of the two links below, depending on which type of computer you use:

Basics of Using the Internet Safely & Easily for Microsoft Windows PCs

or

Basics of Using the Internet Safely & Easily for Apple Mac OS X

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.