This time, we will be taking a look at a particularly important security topic: Passwords. I’ll also review the new iPhone 6 and reveal a great website that covers a variety of computing topics in a manner that is easy to read and understand.
As usual, feel free to suggest topics which you would like to see covered in an upcoming newsletter or on the Grundig IT news page, which can be found at under the News tab at www.GrundigIT.com
Passwords, iPhone 6 and Ask Leo!
Passwords:
Computer security has been at the top of the news this year, especially with exploits such as the heartbleed bug and others taking advantage of vulnerabilities in computer security which are used throughout the Internet. The heartbleed bug puts our focus on passwords.
Passwords are pervasive. We used them to access almost every site on the Internet. It is not enough to have strong passwords any more. The same passwords should not be used on different sites, especially banking and financial sites. Using the same password in multiple locations and on multiple sites means makes it easy for someone else to gain access to much of your valuable information.
Choosing multiple, different and strong passwords for each site is hard to do. They should contain a mixture of numbers, letters, capitalization, and possibly, punctuation. Here is one easy method for choosing and remembering multiple strong passwords:
1) Start with a theme (for example, colors) 2) Pick a color (for example, purple) 3) choose a password by dividing ‘purple’ in half using a number (for example, 2014) The resulting password could then be pur2014PLE (Purple split in half with the number 2014 between and with the second half in CAPS).
Make variations of this password by changing the color, the separating number and the capitalization. Another variation would be YEL2011low. And so on. These passwords are easy to remember while not being obvious. Finally, add some punctuation (e.g. pur2014PLE..) Sticking with your chosen theme allows creation of multiple different passwords that are easy to remember.
If this seems too complicated or hard to do, consider use of a password manager. Top password managers are reviewed here. They are inexpensive, valuable, and make things easier.
iPhone 6:
The iPhone 6 smartphones were recently released by Apple and come in two flavors: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. iPhone 6’s come loaded with Apple’s latest iOS operating system, iOS 8. iOS 8, similar in look and feel to iOS 7, has new features and improvements, the biggest one of them being the Health Apps.
Should you consider an iPhone 6 if you already have an iPhone 5 or 4S? Yes, but only if screen size is a major concern. If you are only looking to get your hands on iOS 8, it’s available as a free update on the iPhone 5 and 4S. Performance will likely suffer on the older iPhones, as the new iPhone 6 is faster.
I upgraded my iPhone 5S to iOS 8 and I’m not getting a new iPhone for now, as I don’t care so much about the larger screen. My iPhone 5S also runs on the Verizon 4G network, so download speeds will not improve by upgrading to the latest iPhone.
